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THE FIRST MEDIUM. (Gen. 3 : 1-5.) 



MODERN. 



Spiritualism 



A SUBJECT OF 

PROPHECY AND A SIGN 

OF THE TIMES 



By URIAH SMITH. 




,& 



REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING CO., 

Battle Creek, Mich. Atlanta, Ga, 

1896. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year IHiW, l»y 

The Review and Herald Publishing Co., 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



Entered also at Stationers' Hall, London, England. 



PREFACE. 



FOR nearly fifty years Spiritualism has been before 
the world. This surely is time enoup;h to enable 
it to show its character by its fruits. '' By tht'ir 
fruits ye shall know them," is a rule that admits 
of no exceptions. If evil fruits a])})ear, the tree is 
corrupt. 

Spiritualism has nuide unbounded promises of 
good. It has claimed to be the long-promised second 
coming of Christ ; the opening of a new era among 
mankind ; the rosy ])ortal of a golden age, when all 
men should be reformed, evil disappear, and the 
renovation of society cause the hearts of men to 
leap for joy, and the earth to blossom as the rose. 

Has it fulfilled all, or any, of these promises? 
If not, is it not a deception i and if a deception, 
considering its wide-spread influence, and the num- 
ber of its adherents, is it n(jt one of the most 
gigantic and appalling deceptions that has ever fallen 
upon Christendom 'i The Bible in the plainest terms, 
declares that in the last days malign influences will 
be let loose upon the world ; false pretensions 
will be urged upon the minds of men ; and decep- 
tions, backed up by preternatural signs and wonders,- 
will develop to such a degree of strength, that, if 
it were possible, they would deceive the very elect. 



4 PREFACE. 

Is it possible that Spiritualism may be the very 
development of evil, against which this warning 
is directed ? 

To investigate these questions, and to show by 
unimpeachable testimony, what Spiritualism is, and 
the place it holds among the psychological movements 
of the present day, is the object of these pages. 
Not a few books have been written against Spiritu- 
alism ; but most of them endeavor to account for it 
on the ground of human jugglery and imposture, or 
on natural principles, the discovery of a new and 
heretofore occult force in nature, etc., from which 
great things may be expected in the future. But 
rarely has any one discussed it from the standpoint 
of projDhecy, and the testimony of the Scriptures, 
the only point of view, as we believe, from which its 
true origin, nature, and tendency, can be ascertained. 

Many features in the work of Spiritualism would 
seem to indicate that the source from which it springs 
is far from good ; but it is based upon a church 
dogma, firmly established through all Christendom, 
which, in many minds is of sufficient weight to over- 
balance considerations that would otherwise be con- 
sidered ample grounds for shunning or renouncing it. 
It is therefore the more necessary that the reader, 
in examining this question, should let the bonds that 
have heretofore bound him to preconceived opinions, 
sit loose upon him, and that he should put himself 
in the mood of Dr. Channing when he said: "I 
must choose to receive the truth, no matter how it 
bears., upon myself, and must follow it no matter 



I'KKKACK. 



wliere it IcikIs, from what party it severs me, or to 
what j)arty it allies." And he should remember also, 
as the eminent and ])ious Dr. Vinet once sagaciously 
observed, that "even now, after eig:hteen centuries 
of Christianity, wo arc very probably involved in 
some enormous eri-or, of which Christianity will, in 
some future time, make us ashamed.'' 

In view, therefore, (tf the importance of this 
question, and the tremendous issues that hang on 
the decisions we may make in these perilous times, 
we feel justified even in adjnrlng the reader to 
canvass this subject with an inflexible determination 
to learn the truth, and then to follow it wherever 
it niav lead. PruLTSuKRs. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER ONE. 

I'AOK. 

Ojiening Thought — A Manifestation of Power — A Mani- 
festation of Tntf'lligonco— The Progress of Spiritualism !» 

(^HAPTEE TWO. 

What Is the Agency in Question? — Credentials of llie 

l^iblo — An Impossibility — The Soul not Immorlal . ^i 

CHAPTER THREE. 

The (lead 1 iiiconscious 43 

('[[APTER POrU. 
They Are Evil Angels — \\'arnin!.-s Against Kvil Si)irits (>."♦ 

CHAPTKli Pn K. 

What thr Spirits Teach — They Deny all Distinction be- 
tween Right and AVrong— Dangers of Mediumship — 

Miscellaneous Teaching — Spirits Cannot Re Idcnti- 
tic-.l '7^ 

( 11 APT K 11 SIX. 
Its Promises: How Fnltille.l 125 

('1P\PTKH SKVKX. 

Spiritualism a Sul\ie(t of ]*rophecy — Conchisiow . 1-'>1 

in 



I L LUST-RAT I O/MS. 



-*- 



The First Medium. Frontispiece. 
The Medium of Endor . .52 



Isaiah Reproving Those Who 
Seek to the Dead for Knowl- 
edge 74 

Demoniacs of Matt. 8 : 28 . 114 



Modern SpiRiiuAUsn. 

CHAPTER ONE. 



OPENING THOUGHT. 

WHAT think ye ( Whence is it — from heaven 
or of men i ISnch was the nature of the ques- 
tion addressed by our Saviour to the men of his 
time, concerning the baptism of John. It is the 
crucial question by which to test every system that 
comes to us in the garb of religion : Is it from 
lieaven or of men? And if a true answer to the 
question can be found, it must determine our atti- 
tude toward it ; for if it is from heaven, it challenges 
at once our acceptance and profound regard , but if 
it is of men, sooner or later, in this world or in the 
world to come, it will be destroyed with all its fol- 
lowers ; for our Saviour has declared that every 
])lunt which our heavenly Father has not planted 
shall be rooted up. Matt. IT) : 13. 

To those who do not believe in any "heavenly 
Father," nor in "(Hu-ist the Saviour," nor in any 
"revealed word of God," we would say that these 
points will be assumed in this work rather than 

[!>1 



10 MODEKN Sl^lKITUALISM. 

•lirectlj argued, though many incidental proofs will 
appear, to which we trust our friends will be pleased 
to give sonic consideration. But we address our- 
selves particularly to those who still have faith in 
God the Father of all ; in his divine Son, our Lord 
Jesus Christ, through whose blood we have redemp- 
tion ; in the Bible as the inspired revelation of God's 
will ; and in the Holy Spirit as the enlightener of the 
mind, and the sanctifier of the soul. To all those to 
whom this position is common ground, the Bible will 
be the standard of authority, and the court of last 
appeal, in the study upon which we now enter, 

A MANIFESTATION OF POWER. 

Spiritualism cannot be disposed of with a sneer, 
A toss of the head and a cry of " humbug," will not 
suffice to meet its claims and the testimony of care- 
ful, conservative men who have studied thoroughly 
into the genuineness of its manifestations, and have 
sought for the secret of its power, and have become 
satisfied as to the one, and been wholly baffled as to 
the other. That there have been abundant instances 
of attempted fraud, deception, jugglery, and imposi- 
tion, is not to be denied. But this does not by any 
means set aside the fact that there have been mani- 
festations of more than human power, the evidence 
for which has never been impeached. The detection 
of a few sham mediians, who are trying to impose 
upon the credulity of the public, for money, may 
satisfy the careless and unthinking, that the whole 
affair is a humbug. Such will dismiss the matter 



A MANIKKSIATION <>K I'oWKlv. I J 

from tlicir iimikIh, and depart, easier isnhjecls lo 
})o (rapture(l ])\ tlu^ nKtvenieiit wlieii some manit'esta- 
ti<»ii appears for wliicli fliey can tiiid no explanation. 
But the more tliou^litful and careful ohsei'vers well 
know that the exposure of these mountebanks does 
not account for the numberless manifestations of 
power, and the steady cm-rent of phenomena, utterly 
inexplicable on any human hypothesis, which have 
attended the movement from the beginning. 

The Philadelphia North American, of July 81, 
I'^S,-), published a communication from Thomas R. 
Hazard, in which he says : — 

"Rut Spiritualism, whatever may bf thought of it, must 
be recogiiizt'tl as a I'act. It is one of the characteristic intel- 
lectual or emotional phenomena of the times, and as such, it 
is deservinjr of a more serious examination than it has yet 
receiv<>d. There are those who say it is all humbujj, and 
that everything,' outside of the ordinary course which takes 
))lace at the so-called stances, is the direct result of fraudu- 
lent and deliberative imposture; in short, that every Spiri- 
tualist must l>e either a fool or a knave. The serious objection 
to this hypothesis is that the explanation is almost as ditVicull 
of belief, as the occurrences which it explains. There must 
certainly be some Spiritualists who are both honest and 
intelligent ; and if the manifestations at the stances were 
altojreth(!r and invariably fraudulent, surely the whole thing 
must have collapsed long before this; and the Seyberl Com- 
mi.ssion, which finds it necessary to extend its investigations 
over an indefinite period, which will certainly not be less 
than a year, would ha\i' l>een ,ihle to sweep the delusion 
away in short order." 

The phenomena are so well known, that it is 
unnecessary to recount them here. Among them 
may be mentioned such achievements as these : Vari- 
ous articles have been transported from place to 



1^ MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

place, without human hands, but by the agency of 
so-called spirits only ; beautiful music has been 
produced independently of human agency, with and 
without the aid of visible instruments ; many well- 
attested cases of healing have been presented ; per- 
sons have been carried through the air by tlie spirits 
in the presence of many witnesses ; tables have been 
suspended in the air with several persons upon them ; 
purported spirits have presented themselves in bodily 
form and talked with an audible voice ; and all this 
not once or twice merely, but times without number, 
as may be gathered from the records of Spiritualism, 
all through its history. 

A few particular instances, as samples, it may be 
allowable to notice : Not many years since, Joseph 
Cook made his memorable tour around the world. 
In Europe he met the famous German philosopher, 
Professor Zollner. Mr. Zollner had been carefully 
investigating the phenomena of Spiritualism, and 
assured Mr. Cook of the following occurrences as 
facts, under his own observation : Knots had beon 
found tied in the middle of cords, by some invisible 
agency, while both ends were made securely fast, so 
that they could not be tampered with ; messages were 
written between doubly and trebly sealed slates ; 
coin had passed through a table in a manner to illus- 
trate the suspension of the laws of impenetrability of 
matter ; straps of leather were knotted under his 
own hand ; the impression of two feet was given on 
sooted paper pasted inside of two sealed slates ; 
whole and uninjured wooden rings were placed 



A MAMKKSTATION VV J'oWKK. I'd 

annmd tlu- stundard of a card tahlc, over either end 
of wliicu they couhl by no jxtssihility ))o slipped ; 
and tinally thv^ tal)le itself, a heavy beechen struc- 
ture, wholly dis:ij)peare(l, and then fell from the top 
of the room where Professor ZoUner and his friends 
were sitting. 

In further confirmation of the fact that real 
spiritualistic manifestations are no sleight-of-hand 
performances, we cite the case of Harry Kellar, a 
professional performer, as given in "Nineteenth 
('entury Miracles," ]). 2i:i. The seance was held 
with tli'.^ medium, Eglinton, in Calcutta, India, Jan. 
25, 1S82. lie says : — 

"It is lu'cdli'ss to say tliat 1 went as a skeptic : l)ut I must 
own that I have come away utterly unable to explain by any 
natural means the phenomena that I witnessed on Tuesday 
evening." 

He then describes the particuhirs of the seance. 
An intelligence, purporting to be the spirit of one 
Geary, gave a communication. Mr. Kellar did not 
recognize the name nor recall the man. The mes- 
sage was repeated, with the added circumstances of 
the time and particulars of a previous meeting, when 
Mr. Kellar recalled the events, and, much to his sur- 
prise, the whole matter came clearly to his recollec- 
tion. He then adds : — 

"I still remain a skeptic as rejjards Spiritualism, but I 
repeat my inability to exiilain or account for what must have 
been an intellij,'ent force which i)roduced the writin?]: on the 
slate, which, if my senses are to be i\'lie(l on, was in no way 
the resnlt of tricker\- or slei-rht-yf-haiul." 



14 . MODERN SPIKITUALISM. 

Another instance from "Home Circle,"' p. 25, 
is that of Mr. BeUachini, also a professional con- 
jm'or, of Berlin, Germany. His interview was with 
the celebrated medimn, Mr. Slade. From his testi- 
mony we quote the following : — 

"I have not, in the smallest degree, found anything to be 
produced by ; prestidigitative manifestations or m<'ehanical 
apparatus ; and any explanation of the experiments which 
took place under the circumstances and conditions then 
obtaining, by any reference to prestidi^ntation, is (ibf<oluteli/ 
impondble, I declare, moreover, the published oi^inions of 
laymen as to the "How" of this subject, to be premature, 
and according to my views and experience, false and one- 
sided."— Bated, Berlin, Bee. 6, 1S77. 

When professional conjm-ors bear such testimony 
as this, while it does not prove Spiritualism to be 
what it claims to be, it does disprove the hmnbng 
theory. 

In addition to this, it appears that two proposi- 
tions, one of $2000, and the other of $5000, have 
been offered to the one who claimed to be able to 
duplicate all the manifestations of Spiritualism, to 
duplicate two well-authenticated tests ; but the chal- 
lenge has never been accepted, nor the reward 
claimed, ^qq Heligio-PJulosoj^hicalJournal, of Jan. 
15, 1881, and January, 1883. 

A writer in the &]){ritual Clarion^ in an article 
on "The Millennium of Spiritualism," bears the 
following testimony in regard to the power and 
strength of the movement : — 

" This revelation has been with a power, a might, that if 
divested of its almost universal benevolence, had been a terror 



A AIANIKKSTATION t)K J'oWKK. 1.") 

to the VLTV soul ; llu' hair of (hf vtn-y brnvest hail stood on 
(.Mid, and his chilU-d blood luid cr»'pt back upon his heart, at 
the sights and sounds of its inexplicable phenomena. It comes 
with foretokening and ■warning. It has been, from the very 
lirst, its own bi'st prophet, and step by step, it has foretold 
the progress it would make. It comes, too, most triumphant. 
No faith before it ever took such a victorious stand in its 
very infancy. It has swej)t like a hurricane of fire through 
the land, compelling faith from the batlled scoffer, and th(> 
most determined doubter." 

Dr. AV. F. l)aiT('tt, I'lot'cssor of K.xpi-riiiKMital 
l*hysics in tlio lutyal Collcgcj of Dublin, says: — 

" It is well known to those who have made the phenomena 
of Spiritualism the subject of prolonged and careful inciuiry, 
in the spirit of exact and unimpassioned scientific research, 
that beneath a repi'llent mass of imposture and delusion there 
remain certain inexplicable and startling facts which science 
can neither explain away nor deny." — '■^ Atitomatir^ or Spirit 
Writing," p. 11. {IS'M.) 

Til the Anna of November, l!SH2, p. ()8S, Mr, 
^r. »l. Savage, tlie noted Unitarian minister of 
Boston, says : — 

"Next comes what are ordinarily classfd together as 
'mediumistic phenomena.' The most important of these 
are ])sychometry, 'vision' of 'spirit' forms, claimed com- 
munications by means <.f rappings, table movements, auto- 
matic ■writing, independent ■writing, trance speaking, etc. 
With them also ought to be noted ■what are generally called 
physical phenomena, though in most cases, since they are 
intellii,nbly directed, the u.se of the -word 'physical,' without 
this qualification, might be misleading. These physical phe- 
nomena include such facts as the movement of material 
objects by other than the ordinary muscular force, the 
making objects heavier or lighter ■when tested by the scales, 
the playing on musical instruments by some invisible power, 
etc. . . . K;)W all of these referred to (with the exception 
of independent writing, and materialization) I know to be 



It) MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

genuine. I do not at all mean by this that I know that the 
'spiritualistic' interpretation of them is tlie true one. I 
mean only that they are genuine phenomena; that they have 
occurred; that they are not tricks or the result of fraud." 

In the Formn of December, 1889, p. 455, the 
same writer describes his experience at the house 
of a friend with whom he had been acquainted eight 
or ten years. When about to depart, he thought 
he would try an experiment. He says : — 

" She and I stood at opposite ends of the table at which 
we had been sitting. Both of us having placed the tips of 
our fingers lightly on the top of the table, I spoke, as if 
addressing some unseen force connected with the table, and 
said: 'Now I must go; will you not accompany me to the 
door?' The door was ten or fifteen feet distant, and was 
closed. The table started. It had no casters, and in order 
to make it move as it did, we should have had to go behind 
and push it. As a matter of fact we led it, while it accom- 
panied us all the way, and struck against the door with 
considerable force." 

From the same article, p. 456, we quote again : — 

"I add one more experiment of my own. I sat one day in 
a heavy, stuffed armchair. The psychic sat beside me, and 
laying his hand on the back of the chair, gradually raised it. 
Immediately I felt and saw myself, chair and all, lifted into 
the air at least one foot from the floor. There was no uneven 
motion implying any sense of effort on the part of the lifting 
force ; and I was gently lowered again to the carpet. This 
was in broad light, in a hotel parlor, and in presence of a 
keen-eyed lawyer friend. I could plainly watch the whole 
thing. No man living could have lifted me in such a 
position, and besides, I saw that the psychic made not the 
slightest apparent effort. Nor was there any machinery or 
preparation of any kind. My companion, the lawyer, on 
going awa3% speaking in reference to the whole sitting, said : 
' I 've seen enough evidence to hang every man in the State — 
enough to prove anything exceptinrj this.'' 



A MANIFESTATION OF POWER. l7 

"Professor Crookes, of London, relates having seen and 
heard an accordion played on wliilc it was enclosed in a wire 
net-work, and not touched by any visible hand. I have seen 
an approach to the same thing. In daylight I have seen a 
man hold an accordion in the air, not more than three feet 
awaj' from me. He held it by one hand, grasping the side 
opposite to that on which the keys were fixed. In this 
position, it, or something, played long tunes, the side contain- 
ing the keys being pushed in and drawn out without any con- 
tact that I could see. I then said, ' Will it not play for me '! ' 
The reply was, 'I don't know: you can try it.' I then took 
the accordion in my hands. There was no music ; but what 
did occur was quite as inexplicable to me, and quite as con- 
vincing as a display of some kind of power. I know not how 
to express it, except by saying that the accordion was seized 
as if by some one trying to take it away from me. To test 
this power, I grasped the instrument with both hands. The 
struggle was as real as though my antagonist was another 
man. I succeeded in keeping it, but only by the most 
strenuous eti'orts. 

"On another occasion I was sitting with a 'medium.' 
I was too far away for him to reach me, even had he tried, 
which he did not do ; for he sat perfectly quiet. My knees 
were not under the table, but were where I could see them 
plainly. Suddenly my right knee was grasped as by a hand. 
It was a firm grip. I could feel the print and pressure of all 
the fingers. I said not a word of th.e strange sensation, but 
quietly put my right hand down and clasped my knee in order 
to see if I could feel anything on my hand. At once I felt 
what seemed like the most delicate finger tips playing over 
my own fingers and gradually rising in their touches toward 
my wrist. When this was reached, I felt a series of clear, 
distinct, and definite pats, as though made by a hand of fleshy 
vigor. I made no motion to indicate what was going on, and 
said not a word until the sensation had passed. All this while 
I was carefully watching my hand, for it was plain daylight, 
and it was in full view ; but I saw nothing." 

We need not multiply evidence on this point. A 
remark by T. J. Hudson ("Law of Psychic Plie- 
2 



18 MODEKN SPIRITUALISM. 

iiomena,"' p. 206, Mc Clurg & Co., Chicago, 1894) 
may fitly close this division of the subject. He 
says : — 

"I will not waste time, however, by attempting to prove 
by experiments of my own, or of others, that such phenomena 
do occur. It is too late for that. The facts are too well 
known to the civilized world to require proof at this time. 
The man who denies the phenomena of spiritism to-day is 
not entitled to be called a skeptic, he is simply ignorant ; 
and it would be a hopeless task to attempt to enlighten him." 

A MANIFESTATION OF INTELLIGENCE. 

From the testimony already given it is evident 
that there is connected with Spiritualism an agency 
that is able to manifest power and strength be- 
yond anything that human beings, unaided, are 
able to exert. It is just as evident that the same 
agency possesses intelligence beyond the power of 
human minds. Indeed, this was the very feature 
that first brought it to the attention of the public. 
Spiritualism, as the reader is doubtless aware, origi- 
nated in the family of Mr. John D. Fox, in Hydes- 
ville, near Rochester, N. Y., in the spring of 1848. 
Robert Dale Owen, in his work called ' ' Footfalls 
on the Boundary of Another World," p. 290, has 
given a full narration of the circumstances attending 
this remarkable event. The particulars, he states, 
he had from Mrs. Fox, and her two daughters, Mar- 
garet and Kate, and son, David. The attention of 
the family had been attracted by strange noises 
which finally assumed the form of raps, or mufiied 
footfalls, and became very annoying. Chairs were 



A MANIFESTATION OK INTELLKJKNCE. l!) 

sometimes moved from their places, and this was 
once also the case with the dining-room table. 
Heard occasionally during February, the disturbance 
so increased during the latter i)art of March, as 
seriously to break the nightly repose of the family. 
])Ut as these annoyances occurred only in the night- 
time, all the family hoped that soon, by some means, 
the mystery would be cleared away. They did not 
abandon this hope till Friday, the 31st of JVIarch, 
1S4S. AVcaric'd by a succession of sleepless nights, 
the faiuily retired early, h<)i)ing for a resj)ite from 
the disturbances that had harassed them. In this they 
Were doomed to especial disappointment. We can 
do no better than to let Mr. Owen continue the nar- 
rative, in his own words : — 

•' Th(! pun-nts had removed the chiklren's beds into thoir 
bedroom, and strictly onjoincd tliem nut to talk of noist^s, 
even if they heard them. Hut scarcely had the mother seen 
them safely in bed, and was retiring to rest herself, when the 
children cried out, 'Here they arc again!' The mother 
chicled thi'm, and la,y down. Thereupon the noises bi'Came 
louder and more startling. The children sat up in bed. 
Mr.s. Fox called her husband. The night being windy, it 
was suggested to him that it might be the rattling of the 
sashes. He tried several to see if they were loose. Kate, the 
younger girl, happened to remark that as often as her father 
shook a window-sash, the noises seemed to reply. Being a 
lively child, and in a measure accustomed to what was going 
on, she turned to where the noise was, snapped her fingers, 
and called out, ' Here, old Splitfoot, do as I do ! ' The knock- 
ing instantly responded. 

" That iras the very eoynmenremeiit. Who nni tell irhere tJie 
end trill be ? 

"I do not mean that it was Kate Fox, wlio thus, in 
childish jest, first discovered tliat these mysterious .sounds 



^0 MODEEt? SPIEITtTALISM. 

seemed instinct witli intelligence. Mr. Mompesson, two hun- 
dred years ago, had alreadj' observed a similar phenomenon. 
Glanvil had verified it. So had Wesley, and his children. So 
we have seen, and others. But in all these cases the matter 
rested there and the observation was not prosecuted farther. 
As, previous to the invention of the steam engine, sundry 
observers had trodden the very threshold of the discovery and 
there stopped, so in this case, where the royal chaplain, 
disciple though he was of the inductive philosophy, and 
where the founder of Methodism, admitting, as he did, the 
probabilities of ultramundane interference, were both at 
fault, a Yankee girl, but nine years old, following up more in 
sport than in earnest, a chance observation, became the 
instigator of a movement which, whatever its true character, 
has had its influence throughout the civilized world. The 
spark had been ignited, — once at least two centuries ago ; but 
it had died each time without effect. It kindled no flame till 
the middle of the nineteenth century. 

"And yet how trifling the step from the observation at 
Tedworth to the discovery at Hydesville ! Mr. Mompesson, 
in bed with his little daughter (about Kate's age), whom the 
sound seemed chiefly to follow, ' observed that it would 
exactly answer, in drumming, anything that was beaten or 
called for.' But his curiosity led him no further. 

"Not so Kate Fox. She tried, by silently bringing to- 
gether her thumb and forefinger ; whether she could obtain 
a response. Yes ! It could see, then, as well as hear. She 
called her mother. 'Only look, mother,' she said, bringing 
together again her finger and- thumb, as before. And as 
often as she repeated the noiseless motion, just as often 
responded the raps. 

"This at once arrested her mother's attention. 'Count 
ten,' she said, addressing the noise. Ten strokes, distinctly 
given ! ' How old is my daughter Margaret ? ' Twelve 
strokes. 'And Kate?' Nine. 'What can all this mean?' 
was Mrs. Fox's thought. Who was answering her ? Was it 
only some mysterious echo of her own thought ? But the 
next question which she put seemed to refute the idea. 
' How many children have I ? ' she asked aloud. Seven 
Strokes. 'Ah!' she thought, 'it can blunder sometimes.' 



A MANIFESTATION OF INTELLIGENCE. 21 

And then aloud, 'Try af^ain.' Still the number of raps was 
seven. Of a sudden a thuugcht crossed Mrs. Fox's mind. 
'Are they all alive ? ' she asked. Silence for answer. ' How 
many are living ? ' Six strokes. ' How many are dead ? ' A 
single stroke. She had lost a child. 

"Then she asked, 'Are you a man ?' No answer. 'Are 
you a spirit '.' ' It rapped. 'May my neighbors hear, if I call 
them ? ' It rapped again. 

"Thereupon she asked her husband to call her neighbor, 
a Mrs. Rcdfield, who came in laughing. But her cheer Avas 
sof)n changed. Tiie answers to lur inquiries were as prompt 
and pertinent, as they had been to those of Mrs. Fox. She 
was struck with awe ; and when, in reply to a question about 
the number of her children, by rapping four, instead of three, 
as she expected, it reminded her of a little daughter, Mary, 
whom she had recently lost, the mother burst into tears." 

We have introduced this narrative thus at length 
not only because it is interestinu^ in itself, but be- 
cause it is of special interest that all the particulars 
of the origin, or beginning, of such a movement as 
this, should be well understood. The following 
paragraph will e.xplain how it came to be called 
"The Kochester Knockings," under which name it 
first became widely known. It is from the ' ' Report 
of the P.Tth Anniversary of Modern Spiritualism,'' 
held in Brooklyn, N. Y., March 31, 1885, and 
re])ortt'd in the Bdiimr of Li(/hf, the 2r)tli of the 
following month: — ■ 

"After a song by J. T. Lillie, Mrs. Leah Fox T'nderhill, 
the elder of the three Fox sisters (who was on our platform), 
was r(>quested to speak. Mrs. Underbill said, that she was 
not a public speaker, but would answer any questions from 
the audience, and iu resixmse to these questions told in a 
graphic manner how the si)irits came to their humble home 
in Hydesville, in 1848; how on the 31st of March the first 
intelligent communication from the spirit world came 



22 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

through the raps ; how the family had been annoyed by the 
manifestations, and by the notoriety that followed ; how 
the younger sisters, Catherine and Margaret, were taken to 
Rochester, where she lived, by their mother, hoping that this 
great and apparent calamity might pass from them ; how 
their father and mother prayed that this cup might be taken 
away, but the phenomena became more marked and violent ; 
how in the morning they would find four coffins drawn with 
an artistic hand on the door of the dining-room of her home 
in Rochester, of different sizes, approximating to the ages and 
sizes of the family, and these were lined with a pink color, 
and they were told that unless they made this great fact 
known, they would all speedily die, and enter the spirit- 
world. 

"Gladly would they all have accepted this penalty for 
their disobedience in not making this truth known to the 
world. She told how they were compelled to hire Corinthian 
Hall in Rochester ; how several piiblic meetings were held 
in Rochester, culminating in the selection of a committee 
of prominent infidels, who, after submitting the Fox children 
to the most severe tests, —they being disrobed in the presence 
of a committee of ladies, — reported in their favor. ... AH 
the time she was on our platform, there was a continuous 
rapping by the spirits in response to what was being said by 
the several speakers, also in response to the singing, and all 
our exercises." 

In the same volume of the Forum from which 
quotations have already been made, M. J. Savage 
states many facts which have a determinate bearing 
on the point now under consideration ; namely, the 
intelligence manifested in the spiritual phenomena. 
From these we quote a few. He says (p. 452 and 
onward) : — 

"I am in possession of quite a large body of apparent 
facts that I do not know what to do with. . . . That certain 
things to me inexplicable have occurred, I believe. The 
negative opinion of some one with whom no such things have 



A MANIFESTATION OK INTKLM(JKN(JK. 23 

occurred, will nut satisfy mc. ... I am ready to submit 
some spi'cimt'iis of those things that constitute my problem. 
They can be only specimens; for a detailed account of even 
half of those I have laid by, would stretch to the limits of 
a book. 

" A merchant ship bound for New York was on her home- 
ward voyage. She was in the Indian Ocean. The captain 
was engaged to be married to a lady living in New England. 
One day early in the afti'rnooii he came pale and excited to 
one of his mates and e.xclaimed, ' Tom, Kate has just died 1 I 
have seen her die !' The mate looked at him in amazement, 
not knowing what to make of such talk. But the captain 
went oa and described the whole scene — the room, her 
appearance, how she died, and all the circumstances. So 
real was it to him, and such was the effect on him, of his 
grief, that for two or three weeks, he was carefully watched 
lest he should do violence to himself. It was more than 
one hundred and fifty days before the ship reached her 
harbor. During all this time no news was received from 
home. But when at last the ship arrived at New York, it 
was found that Kate did die at the time and under the 
circumstances seen and described by the captain off the coast 
of India. This is only one case out of hundreds. What does 
it mean ? Coincidence ? .Tust happened so ' This might bo 
said of one ; but a hundred of such coincidences become 
inexplicable." 

The following is another instance mentioned by 
tlie same writer : — 

" I went to the house of a woman in New York. She was 
not a professional. We had never seen each other before. 
We took seats in the jiarlor for a talk, I not looking for any 
manifestation. Raps began. I do not say whether they were 
really where they seemed to bo or not ; I know right well 
that the judgment is subject to illusion through the senses. 
But I was told a 'spirit friend' was present; and soon the 
name, time, and place of death, etc., were given me. It was 
the name of a friend I had once known intimately. But 
twenty years had passed since the old intimacy; she had 
lived in another State : I am certain that she and the 



24 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

psychic had never known or even heard of each other. She 
had died within a few months." 

Mr. Savage then gives examples where the power 
in question was exclusively mental : — 

"The first time I was ever in the presence of a particular 
psychic, she went into a trance. She had never seen, and, so 
far as I know, had never had any way of hearing of my 
father, who had died some years previously. When I was a 
boy, he always called me by a special name that was never 
used by any other member of the family. In later years he 
hardly ever used it. But the entranced psychic said : ' An 
old gentleman is here,' and she described certain very marked 
peculiarities. Then she added : ' He says he is your father, 
and he calls j'ou ,' using the old childhood name of mine." 

Again, same page : — 

" One case more, only, will I mention under this head. 
A most intimate friend of my^ youth had recently died. She 
had lived in another State, and the psychic did not know 
that such a person had ever existed. We were sitting alone 
when this old friend announced her presence. It was in this 
way : A letter of two pages was automatically written, 
addressed to me, I thought to myself as I read it — I did 
not speak — 'Were it possible, I should feel sure she had writ- 
ten this.' I then said, as though speaking to her, 'Will j^ou 
not give me your name ?' It was given, both maiden and 
married name. I then began a conversation lasting over an 
hour, which seemed as real as any I ever have with my 
friends. She told me of her children, of her sisters. We 
talked over the events of boj-hood and girlhood. I asked her 
if she remembered a book we used to read together, and she 
gave me the avithor's name. I asked again if she remem- 
bered the particular poem we were both specially fond of, 
and she named it at once. In the letter that was written, 
and in much of the conversation, there were apparent hints 
of identity, little touches and peculiarities that would mean 
much to an acquaintance, but nothing to a stranger. I could 
not but be much impressed. Now in this case, I know that 



A MANIFESTATION OF INTELLIGENCE. 25 

the psychic novcr kntnv of this piTSon's pxistonrc, nnd uf 
course not uf our ac(^u;iiiilauce."' 

]V[r Savage then mentions cases which lie calls 
still more inexplicable, because the information con- 
veyed was not known either to the psychic (which 
seems to be the new name for medium) or to liim- 
self. He says : - — - 

" But one more case dare I talce the space foi, though the 
budget is onlj' opened. Tliis one did not happen to me, but 
it is so hedged about and checked otf, tluit its evidential 
value in a scientific way is absolutely perfect. Tl\o uames 
of some of tlio parties concerned irotild he rccof/tiiztd in two 
heuiispheres. A lady and gentleman visited a psychic. The 
gentleman was the lady's brother-in-law. The lady had an 
aunt who was ill in a city two or tliree hundred mih^s away. 
Wlicn the psychic had become entranced, the lady asked her 
if slie had any impression as to the condition of her aunt. 
The reply was, 'Xo.' But before the sitting was over, the 
psychic e.vclaimed, 'Why, your aunt is here I She has al- 
ready passed away.' 'This cannot be true,' said tlie lady; 
'there must be a mistake. If she had died, they would have 
telegraphed us immediately.' 'But,' the psychic insisted, 
'she is here. A'nd she explains that she died about two 
o'clock this morning. She also says that a telegram has been 
sent, and you will find it at tlie house on your return.' 

"Tlcre seemed a clear case for a test. So while the lady 
started for her home, her brother-in-law called at the house 
of a friend and told tlie story. While tliere the husband 
came in. Having been away for some hours he had not 
heard of any telegram. But the friend seated himself at hi« 
desk and wrote out a careful account, which all three signed 
on the spot. When they reached home, — two or three miles 
away, — there was the telegram confirming tlie fact and tiie 
time of the aunt's deatli, i)recisely as tlie psychic had 
told them. 

"Here are most wonderful facts. How shall they be 
accounted for ".' I have not trusted my memory for these 
things, but iiave made careful record at tlie time. I know 



26 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

many other records of a similiar kind kept by others. They 
are kept private. Why ? The kite Rev, J. G. Y/ood, of 
England, the •world-famous naturalist, once said to me : ' I 
am glad to talk of these things to any one who has a right 
to know. But I used to call everybody a fool who had any- 
thing to do with them ; and ' with a smile — 'I do not enjoy 
being called a fool.' 

"Psychic and other societies that advertise for strange 
phenomena, must learn that at least a respectful treatment 
is to be accorded, or people will not lay bare their secret 
souls. And then, in the very nature of the case, these 
experiments concern matters of the most personal nature. 
Many of the most striking cases people will not make public. 
In some of those above related, I have had so to veil facts, 
that they do not appear as remarkable as they really are. 
The whole cannot be told." 

A quotation from this same writer ( ' ' Automatic 
Writing," page 14), says: — - 

"I am in possession of a respectable body of facts that I 
do not know how to explain except on the theory that I am 
dealing with some invisible intelligence. I hold that as the 
only tenable theory I am acquainted with." 

In tlie same work (page 19), the author, Mrs. 
S. A. Underwood, as the result of her communica- 
tions from spirits, says : — - 

"Detailed statements of facts unknown to either of us 
[that is, herself and her " control "], but which weeks after- 
ward were learned to be correct, have been written, and re- 
jjeated agaiu and again, when disbelieved and contradicted 
by us." 

On this point, also, as on the preceding, testi- 
mony need not be multiplied. The facts are too well 
known and too generally admitted to warrant the 
devotion of further space to a presentation of the 



TIIK I'ROORESS OF Sl'IKITUALISM, 27 

evidence. llw. qxwxtion muM soon, he met^ Whaf is 
f/w- source of the 'poiner and infdiigcnee thns monl- 
psted f But this may properly be held in abeyance 
till Nve take a glance at 

THE PROGRESS OF SPIRITUALISM 

during the iifty years of its modern history. It 
bc'-an in a way to excite the wonder and curiosity 
of the peoi)le, the very elements that would give 
wings to its progress through the land. Men sud- 
denly found their thoughts careering through new 
channels. An unseen world seemed to make known 
its presence and invite investigation. As the phe- 
nomena clahned to be due to the direct agency of 
spirits, the movement natnrally assumed the name 
of "Spiritualism." It was then hailed by multi- 
tudes as a new and living teacher, come to clear up 
uncertainties and to dispel doubts from the minds of 
men. At least an irrei)ressible curiosity was every- 
where excited to know what the new "ism" would 
teach concerning that invisible world, which it pro- 
fessed to have come to open to the knowledge of 
mankind. Everywhere men sought by what means 
they could come into communication with the spirit 
realm. Iiito whatever place the news entered, 
circles were formed, and the number of converts 
outstripped the pen of the enroller. It gathered 
adherents from every walk of life — from the higher 
classes as well as the lower ; the educated, cultured, 
and refined, as well as the uncultivated and igno- 
rant ; from ministers, lawyers, physicians, judges. 



28 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

teachers, government officials, and all the profes- 
sions. But the individuals thus interested, being 
of too diverse and independent views to agree upon 
any permanent basis for organization, the data for 
numerical statistics are difficult to procure, Yari- 
ous estunates, however, of their numbers have been 
formed. As long ago as 1876, computations of the 
number of Spiritualists in the United States ranged 
from 3,000,000 by Hepworth Dixon, to 10,000,000 
by the Roman Catholic council at Baltimore. Only 
five years from the time the first convert to Modern 
Spiritualism appeared. Judge Edmonds, himself an 
enthusiastic convert, said of their numbers : — ■ 

"Besides the undistinguished multitudes, there are many 
now of higli standing and talent ranked among them, — doc- 
tors, lawyers, and clergymen in great numbers, a Protestant 
bishop, the learned and reverend president of a college, 
judges of our higher courts, members of Congress, foreign 
ambassadors, and ex-members of the United States Senate." 

Up to the present time, it is not probable that 
the number of Spiritualists has been much reduced 
by apostasies from the faith, if such it may be 
called ; while the movement itself has been grow- 
ing more prominent and becoming more widely 
known every year. The conclusion would there- 
fore inevitably follow that its adherents must 
now be more numerous than ever before. A 
letter addressed by the writer to the publishers 
of the Philoso]?Jiical Jouroial^ Chicago, on this 
point, received the following reply, dated Dec. 
24, 1895:^ 



THE TKOGRESS OF SPIRITUALISM. 2^ 

"Being unorganized, largely, no reliable figures can be 
given. Many tliousands are in the churches, and are counted 
there. Ji is chinned that there are about five million in the 
United States, and over fifty million in the world." 

The ('}irif<t!<iii ((t ir<>/7i; of Aug. IT, 1ST<'>, luuler 
the licad uf " AVitclies and Fools," siiid:^ — 

"But we do not know liow many judges, bankers, mer- 
chants, prominent men in nearly every occupation in Hie, 
there are, who make it a constant practice to visit clairvoy- 
ants, sight-seers, and so-called Spiritual mediums ; yet it can 
scarcely be doubted tliat their name is legion ; that not only 
tlie unreligious man, but professing Christians, men and 
women, are in tho habit of consulting spirits from tlie vasty 
de( p for information concerning botli the dead and the living. 
Many who pass for intelligent pcoiile, who would be shocked 
to have their Christianity called in question, are constantly 
engaged in this disreputable business." 

Tlio following a])|)e:iro(l some years ago, in tlic 
San Francisco C'JwoiucIc : ■ — • 

'* Until quite recently, scii-nce lias coldly ignored the 
alleged i>henomena of Spiritualibm, and treati^d Andrew Jack- 
son Davis, Home, and the Davenport brothers, as if tiny 
belonged to the common fraternity of showmen and mounte- 
banks. But now there has come a most noteworthy change. 
We learn from such high authority as the Forfniijhily litriew 
that Alfred 11. Wallace, F. R. S. "William Crookes, F. II. S., 
and editor of the Qiuirtcrly Journal of Science ; W. H. Har- 
rison, F. R. S. and president of the British Ethnological 
Society, with othei-s occupying a high position in the scien- 
tific and literary world, have been serious!}'- investigating the 
pli(>nomena of spiritism. Tiie report which those learned 
gentlemen make is simply astounding. There is no fairy tale, 
no story of myth or miracle, that is more incredible than their 
luirrative. They tell us in grave and sober six-ech, that the 
spirit of a girl wlio died a iuindred years ago, api)eared to 
tlimi in visible form. Siie talked with them, gave them locks 
of her hair, pii'ci-s of lu-r dress, and her autograph. They 



30 Modern spiEiTUALiSM. 

saw her in bodily presence, felt her person, heard her voice ; 
she entered the room in which they were, and disappeared 
without the opening of a door. The savants declare that 
they have had numerous interviews with her under conditions 
forbidding the idea of trickery or imposture. 

"Now that men eminent in the scientific world have 
taken up the investigation, Spiritualism has entered upon a 
new phase. It can no longer be treated with silent contempt. 
Mr. Wallace's articles in the FortniglMy have attracted gen- 
eral attention, and many of the leading English reviews and 
newspapers are discussing the matter. The New York World 
devotes three columns of its space to a summary of the last 
article in the Fortnightly, and declares editorially that the 
'phenomena' thus attested 'deserve the rigid scientific 
examination which Mr. Wallace invites for them.' This is 
treating the matter in the right way. Let all the well-attested 
facts be collected, and then let us see what conclusions they 
justify. If spirit communication is a fact, it is certainly 
a most interesting one. In the language which the World 
attributes to John Bright, ' If it is a fact, it is the one beside 
which every other fact of human existence sinks into insig- 
nificance.' " 

One of the reasons why it would be quite impos- 
sible to state the number of real Spiritualists in our 
land to-day has already been hinted at in a foregoing 
extract. It is that "many thousands," and we 
think the number might in all probability be raised 
to millions, who are in reality Spiritualists, do not 
go by that name. They are in the various churches, 
and are counted there. Yet they believe the phe- 
nomena of Spiritualism, accept its teachings in their 
own minds, and quietly and constantly, as the Chris- 
tian at Work avers, consult clairvoyants and mediums, 
in quest of knowledge. The grosser features of the 
teachings of Spiritualism which were painfully promi- 
nent in its earlier stages, which there is no reason 



THE 1*K()(;KKSS of Sl'IKI'll'AI.ISM. •>! 

to believe are disrouiitcnanced or ubundoncd either 
ill theory or ]»ractice, are releji;ated to an invisible 
background, while iu its outward aspect it now poses 
in the attitude of piety and the garb of religion. It 
even professes to ado})t some of the more prominent 
and po]nilar doctrines of Christianity. In this phase 
the average churchgoer cannot see why he may not 
accept all that S])iritualism has to give, and still 
retain his denominational relationship. Besides this, 
the coming to light, every now and then, of the fact 
that Borne person of national or world-wide fame is 
a Si)iritualist, adds popularity and gives a new 
impetus to the nu)vement. Such instances may be 
named as the fcumder of the Leland Stanford Uni- 
versity, of California, the widow of ex-Yice-President 
Hendricks, of Indiana, who, it is said, is carrying 
on some very successful financial transactions by 
direction from the spirit world, and Mr. "W. T. Stead, 
London editor of the Bcrlew of Remeici<^ who, in 
1893 started a new quarterly, called The Border 
Jjuxl, to be devoted to the advocacy of the philoso- 
phy of Spiritualism, which he had then but recently 
espoused. In other countries it has invaded the 
ranks of the nobility and even seated itself on the 
thrones of moimrchs. The late royal houses of 
France, Spain, and Kussia, are said, by current 
rumor, to have sought to the s])irits for knowledge. 
Xo cause could covet more rai)id and wide-s])read 
success than this has enjoyed. 



CHAPTER TWO 



WHAT IS THE AGENCY IN QUESTION? 

HAYING now shown that there are connected with 
Spu'itualism supermundane phenomena that 
cannot be denied, and equally evident superhuman 
intelligence, sufficient to give to the movement un- 
precedented recognition in all the world, the way 
is open for the most important question that can be 
raised concerning it, and one which now demands 
an answer ; and that is, What is the agency by 
which these phenomena are produced, and by which 
this intelligence is manifested ? This question must 
be examined with the utmost care, and, if possible, 
a decision be reached of the most assuring cer- 
tainty; for, as Mr. M. J. Savage says, " Spiritu- 
alism is either a grand truth or a most lamentable 
delusion." 

It is proper that the claim which Spiritualism puts 
forth for itself, in this regard, should first be heard. 
This is so well known that it scarcely need be stated. 
It is that there is in every human being a soul, or 
spirit, which constitutes the real person ; that this 
soul, or spirit, is immortal ; that it manifests itself 
through a tangible body during this earth life, and 
svhen that body dies, passes unscathed into the unseen 
world, into an enlarged sphere of life, activity, and 

[32] 



WHAT IS THE AGENCY IN QUESTION i 33 

intelligence ; tluit in this sphere it can still take cog- 
nizance of earthly things, and communicate with 
those still in the tiesh, respecting scenes which it has 
left, and those more interesting conditions still veiled 
from mortal sight ; that it is by these disembodied, 
or "discariiated " spirits that raps are given, objects 
moved, intelligence manifested, secrets revealed, 
slates written, voices uttered, faces shown, and epis- 
tles addressed to mortals, as friend would write to 
friend. If this be true, it opens what would indeed 
be considered a grand avenue of consolation to 
bereaved hearts, by giving them evidence that their 
departed friends still lived ; that they recognized, 
loved, and accom])anied them, and delighted still to 
counsel and instruct them. If not true, it is a mas- 
terpiece of superhuman craft and cunning ; for it 
takes Christendom on the side where it is least 
guarded ; as the view is everywhere held that the 
dead are conscious, and the only question would be 
as to their ])()wcr to communicate with persons still 
living in the body; and it throws its arms around 
the individual when the heart is the most tender, 
when plunged into a condition in which every pang 
of bereaved sorrow, every tie of affection, and every 
throb of love, press him to crave with all his being 
that communication with the dead may be proved a 
fact, and to constrain him to accept the doctrine, un- 
less kept from it by some power stronger than the 
cords that bind heart to heart in deathless love. If 
it be a deception, it occupies a vantage ground before 
which men may well tremble. 
3 



34 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

But, as has been already stated, the question is 
here to be discussed from the standpoint of the Bible ; 
the Bible is to be taken as the standard of authority 
by which all conflicting clamis respecting the nature 
of man, must be decided. The authenticity of the 
Scriptures, in reference to those who deny their 
authority, is an antecedent question, into the dis- 
cussion of which it is not the provmce of this 
little work to enter. A word, however, by way 
of digression, may be allowed in reference to its 
authorship. 

CREDENTIALS OF THE BIBLE. 

1. The Bible claims to be the word of God. 
Those who wrote it assert that they wrote as they 
" were moved by the Holy Ghost ; " and they 
append to what they utter, a " Thus saitli the Lord." 

2. If it is not what it claims to be, it is an ivipos- 
ture invented by deceivers and liars. 

3. Good men would not deceive and lie ; there- 
fore they were not the ones who invented the Bible. 

4. If, therefore, it was invented by men at all, it 
must have been invented by Ijad men. 

5. All liars and religious impostors are bad men ; 
but — - 

6. The Bible repeatedly and most explicitly for- 
bids lying and imposture, under the threatening of 
most condign punishment. 

7. Would, therefore, liars and impostors invent 
a book which more than any other book ever written, 
denounces lying and imposture, thus condemning 



CREDENTIALS OF THE BIULE. 35 

tlioniselves to the severest judgments of God, and at 
last to eternal death i 

S. Jf, then, the Bible is not the invention of 
good men, — because such men would not lie and 
deceive; nor of evil men, — because such men 
would not condemn themselves ; nor of good or evil 
angels, for the same reasons, who else can be its 
author, but he who clahns to be, that is, the living 
(iod ? 

U. If, therefore, from the very nature of the case, 
it nnist be God's book, why not believe it, and 
t)bey it i 

To return : Appeal is therefore made to the 
Bible ; and the object is to learn what the Bible 
teaches about Spiritualism. When the claim is ])ut 
forth that it is the disembodied si)irit8 of dead men 
who make the communications, the Bible reader is at 
once aware of a conflict of claims. In times when 
the Bible was written, there were practices among 
men which went under the names of "enchant- 
ment, " ' ' sorcery, " " witchcraft, " " necronumcy, ' ' 
"divination," "consulting with familiar spirits," 
etc. These practices were all more or less related, 
but some of them bear an unmistakable meaning. 
Thus, " necromancy " is defined to mean " a pre- 
tended communication with the dead. " A ' ' familiar 
spirit" was "a spirit or demon supposed to attend 
on an individual, or to come at his call ; the invisi- 
ble agent of a necromancer's will." — Century Dio 
tionavij. Spiritualists do not deny that their inter- 
course with the invisible world comes under some, at 



36 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

least, of tliese heads. But all such practices the 
Bible explicitly forbids, 

Deut. 18:9-12: "There shall not be found 
among you any one that maketh his son or his 
daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth 
divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, 
or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with. fainiUar 
spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that 
do these things are an abomination unto the Lord." 
Lev. 19 : 31 : "Regard not them that have familiar 
spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by 
them: I am the Lord your God." See also, 2 
Kings 21 : 2, 6, 9, 11 ; Rev. 21 : 8 ; Gal. 5 : 19-21 ; 
Acts 16 : 16-18 ; etc. Thus plainly in both the Old 
and New Testaments, are these practices forbidden. 

AN inPOSSIBILITY. 

But why does the Bible forbid such practices as 
necromancy, or a " pretended ' ' communication with 
the dead 1 — Because it would be only a pretense at 
best ; for such communication is impossible. The 
dead are unconscious in their graves, and have no 
power to communicate with the living. Let this 
truth be once established, and it is the death-blow to 
the claims of Spiritualism, in the cases of all who 
will receive it. Allusion has already been made to 
a popular and wide-spread dogma in the Christian 
church which furnishes a basis for Spiritualism. It 
is that the soul is immortal, and that the dead are 
conscious. Spirits make known their presence, and 
claim to be the spirits of persons who have once lived 



AN IMl'OSSIHILITV. , 37 

here iii liunian IjckHcs. Now if the Bible teaches 
that there is no such thing as a disembodied human 
spirit, a knowledge of that fact would enable one to 
detect at once the imposture of any intelligence 
which from behind the curtain should claim to be 
such spirit. Any spirit seeking the attention of men 
in this life, and claiming to be what the Bible says 
does not exist, comes with a falsehood on its lips or 
in its ra})s, if the Bible is true, and thus reveals its 
real character to be that of a deceiver. In this case 
the Bible believer is armed against the iin])osture. 
No man likes to be fooled. No matter therefore 
how nice the communicating intelligence may seem, 
how many true things it nuiy say, or how many good 
things it may promise, the conviction cannot be 
evaded tliat no real good can be intended or con- 
ferred by any 8])irit, or whatever it may be, masquer- 
ading under the garb of falsehood, or pretending to 
be what it is not. On such a foundation no stable 
superstructure can be reared. It becomes a death- 
trap, sure to collapse and involve in ruin all those 
who trust therein. 

It is very desirable that the reader comprehend 
the full importance of the doctrine, as related to this 
subject, that the dead are unconscious and that they 
have no power to communicate with the living. 
This being established, it swee])S away at one stroke 
the entire foundation of Spiritualism. Evidence will 
now be presented to show that this is a Bible doc- 
trine ; and wherever this is received, the fa})ric of 
Spiritualism from base to finial falls ; it cannot 



38 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

possibly stand. But where the doctrine prevails 
that only the thin veil that limits our mortal vision, 
separates us from a world full of the conscious, 
intelligent spirits of those who have departed this 
life, Spiritualism has the field, beyond the possibil- 
ity of dislodgment. When one believes that he has 
disembodied spirit friends all about him, how can 
he question that they are able to communicate with 
him? and when some unseen intelligence makes its 
presence known, and claims to be one of those 
friends, and refers to facts or scenes, known only to 
them two, how .can the living dispute the claim? 
How can he refuse to accept a claim, which, on his 
own hypothesis, there is no conceivable reason to 
deny ? But if the spirits are not what they claim 
to be, how shall the inexplicable phenomena attend- 
ing their manifestations be explained ? — The Bible 
brings to view other agencies, not the so-called 
spirits of the departed, to whose working all that 
has ever been manifested which to mortal vision 
is mysterious and inexplicable, may be justly at- 
tributed. 

THE SOUL NOT IMMORTAL. 

Spiritualism declares it to be the great object of 
its mission, to prove the immortality of the soul, 
which, it says, -is not taught in the Scriptures with 
sufficient clearness, and is not otherwise demon- 
strated. It well attributes to the Scriptures a lack 
of plain teaching in support of that dogma ; and it 
would have stated niore truth, if it had said that the 



THE SOUL NOT IMMORTAL. 39 

Scriptures nowhere countenance such a doctrine at 
all. But, it is said, the Scriptures are full of the 
terms, " soul " and "spirit." Very true ; but they 
nowhere use those terms to designate such a part 
of man as in common parlance, and in popular the- 
ology, they have come to mean. The fact is, the 
popular concept of the "soul" and "spirit" has 
been formulated entirely outside the Bible. Sedu- 
lously, unremittingly, for six thousand years, the 
idea has been inculcated in the minds of men, from 
the cradle to the grave, that man is a dual being, 
consisting of an outward body which dies, and an 
inward being called " soul," or "spirit," which does 
not die, but passes to higher spirit life, when the 
body goes into the grave. The father of this doc- 
trine is rarely referred to by its believers, as author- 
ity, possibly through a little feeling of embarrassment 
as to its parentage ; for lie it was who announced 
it to our first parents in these words: "Ye shall 
not surely die ! " Gen, 3:4. When men began to 
die, it was a shrewd stroke of policy on the })art of 
him who had promised them that they should not 
die, to try to i)rove to those who remained that the 
( thers had not really died, but only changed condi- 
tions. It is no marvel that he should try to make 
men believe that they possessed an immaterial, im- 
mortal entity that could not die ; but, in view of the 
ghastly experiences of the passing years, it is the 
marvel of marvels that he should have succeeded so 
well. The trouble now is that nicu take these 
meaninijs which have been devised and fostered into 



40 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

stupendous strength outside the pale of Bible teach- 
ing, and attach them to the Bible terms of "soul " 
and ' ' spirit. ' ' In other words, the mongrel pago- 
papal theology which has grown up in Christendom, 
lets the Bible furnish the terms, and paganism the 
definitions. But from the Bible standpoint, these 
definitions do not belong there ; they are foreign to 
the truth, and the Bible does not recognize them. 
They are as much out of place as was the inventor 
of them himself in the garden of Eden, Let the 
Bible furnish its own definitions to its own terms, 
and all will be clear. The opinion of John Milton, 
the celebrated author of Paradise Lost, i-s worthy of 
note. In his "Treatise on Christian Doctrine," 
Vol. I, pp. 250, 251, he says : — 

"Man is a living being, intrinsically and properly one 
individual, not compound and separable, not, according to 
the common oj)inion, made up and framed of two distinct 
and different natures, as of body and soul, but the whole man 
is soul, and the soul, man ; that is to saj', a body or substance, 
individual, animated, sensitive, and rational." 

In this sense the word is employed many times ; 
but whoever will trace the use of the words "soul" 
and "spirit" through the Bible, will find them 
applied also to a great variety of objects ; as, person, 
mind, heart, body (in the expression " a dead body "), 
will, lust, appetite, breath, creature, pleasure, desire, 
anger, courage, blast, etc., etc., in all nearly fifty 
different ways. But it is a fact which should be 
especially noted, that in not a single instance is there 
the least hint given tli,at anything expressed by these 



THE SOUL NOT 1M.MOKTAL. 41 

terms is capable of existing for a single moment, as 
a conscious entity, or in any other condition, 'i/u't/i- 
out the hidij ! This being so, none of these, accord- 
ing to the Bible, are the agency claimed to be present 
in (Spiritualism. 

Anothei- fact in reference to this point, should 
l)e allowed its decisive bearing. The (juestion now 
under investigation is. Is the soul immortal, as Spir- 
itualism luis taken upon itself to teach, and claims 
to demonstrate? The Bible is found to be so lavish 
in the use of the terms "soul" and "spirit," that 
these words occur in the aggregate, seventeen liniidrcd 
tiiiirs. Seventeen hundred times, by way of descrip- 
tion, analysis, narrative, historical facts, or declara- 
tions of what they can do, or suffer, the Bible has 
something to say about "soul" and "sj)irit. " The 
most important <piestion to be settled concerning 
them, certainly, is whether they are immortal or not. 
Will not the Bible, so freely treating of these terms, 
answ^er this question ? Yery strange, indeed, if it 
does not. But does it once affirm that either the 
soul or the spirit is immortal? — JS^ot once! Does 
it ever apply to them the terms "eternal," "death- 
less," " neverdying, " or any word that bears the 
necessary meaning of immortal? — Not in a single 
instance. Does it apj)ly to them any term from 
which even an inference, necessary or remote, can 
be drawn that they are immortal? Even reduced to 
this attenuated form, the answer is still an em])hatic 
and overwhelming, So! Well, then, does it say 
amjtJiiiKj about the nature and capabilities of exist- 



42 MODERN SPIKITUALISM. 

ence of that which it denominates soul or spirit ? — 
Yes ; it says the soul is in danger of the grave, may 
die, be destroyed, killed, and that the spirit may be 
wounded, cut oflf, preserved, and so, conversely, 
made to perish. 

It is sometimes claimed that it is not necessary 
that the Bible should affirm the immortality of the 
soul, because it is so self-evident a fact that it is taken 
for granted. But no one surely can suppose that 
the immortality of the soul is more self-evident than 
that of Jehovah ; yet the Bible has seen fit to affirm 
his immortality in most direct terms. 1 Tim. 1 : 17 : 
' ' Now unto the King eternal, immortal^ invisible, 
the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and 
ever. Amen." 1 Tim. 6 : 16 : *'Who only hath 
immortality^ dwelling in the light which no man 
can approach unto ; whom no man hath seen, nor 
can see : to whom be honor and power everlast- 
ing. Amen." Let, then, similar Bible testimony 
be found concerning the soul ; that is, that it is 
"immortal," or "hath immortality," and the taken- 
for-granted device will not be needed. 



CHAPTER THREE 



. THE DEAD UNCONSCIOUS. 

pROM tlie fact now established tliat the soul is 
-I not immortal, it would follow as an inevitable 
conclusion, that the dead are not conscious in the 
intermediate state, and consequently cannot act 
the part attributed to them in modern S])iritualism. 
But there are some positive statements to which 
the reader's attention should be called, and some 
instances sup])<>sed to prove the conscious state 
which should be noticed. 

1. Hie Dead Knov) vot Anything. — As a sample 
of the way the Bi1)le S])eaks ni>on this que&tion, let 
the reader turn to the words of Solomon, in Eccl. 
9 :5, 0, 10 : <'For the living know that they shall 
die : but the dead know not anything, neither have 
they any more a reward ; for the memory of them 
is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and 
their envy, is now perished ; neither have they any 
more a portion for ever in anything that is done 
under the sun. . . . Whatsoever thy hand findeth 
to do, do it with thy might ; for there is no work, 
nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the 
grave, whither thou goest." 

This language is addressed to the real, living, 
intelligent, responsible man ; and hov/ could it be 

[43] 



44 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

plainer ? On the hypothesis of the commonly be- 
lieved distinction between the soul and the body, 
this must be addressed to the soul ; for the body 
considered as the mere material instrument through 
which tlie soul acts, is not supposed of itself to know 
anything. The body, as a body, independent of the 
soul, does not know that it shall die ; but it is that 
which knows, while one is alive, that it shall die — 
it is that same intelligent being that, when dead, 
knows not anything. But the spirits in Spiritualism 
do know many things in their condition ; therefore 
they are not those who have once lived on this earth, 
and passed off through death; for such, once dead, 
this scrij)ture affirms, know not anything — they are 
in a condition in which there is "no work, nor de- 
vice, nor knowledge,' nor wisdom." This is a plain, 
straightforward, literal statement ; there is no mis- 
taking its meaning ; and if it is true, then it is not 
true that the unseen agents working through Spirit- 
ualism, are the spirits of the dead. 

2. The Spirit Returns to God. — Another pas- 
sage from the same writer, and the same book may 
recur to the mind of the reader, as exj)res8ing a 
different and contradictory thought. Eccl. 12 : 7 : 
" Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was : 
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." 
A careful analysis of this passage reveals no support 
for Spiritualism ; for it does not say that the spirit, 
on returning to God, is conscious, or is capable of 
coming back and, communicating with mortals. It is 
not denied that different component parts enter into 



THE DEAD I'NCONSCIOUS. - io 

the constitution of man ; and tliat these parts may 
he sc'iiaratod. Solomon himself may therefoi'C tell 
us what he means by the term "spirit" which he 
here uses. He emi)loys the same word in chapter 
3 :21 of this same book, but says that beasts have 
it as well as men. And then in verse Jl>, he e\- 
])lains what he means, by saying that they (man 
and tliG lower animals) (//I liave one Jji't-atli. The 
record of man's creation in Gen. 2 : 7, shows that a 
vitalizhig principle, called the " breath of life,'' was 
necessary to be imj)arted to the organized body, be- 
fore man became a living being ; and this breath of 
life, as common to man and to all breathing animals, 
is described in Gen. 7 : 21, 22, by the term nn 
[ruahh)^ the same word that is used for "breath," 
in Eccl. 3:11), " s])irit," in verse 21, and "the 
spirit," which God gave to man, and which returns 
to God, in chapter 12 : 7. Thus it is clear that ref- 
erence is here nuule simply to the "breath of life" 
which God at first imparted to man, to make him a 
living being, and which he withdraws to himself, in 
the hour of man's death. Job states the same fact, 
antl describes the process, in chapter 34 : 14, 1.5 : 
"If he [God] set his heart upon man, if he gather 
imto ////y/.sr//his [man's] S])ii'it [same word] and his 
breath; . . . man shall turn again unto dust. " No 
one can fail to see here that Job refers to the same 
event of wdiich Solomon speaks. 

And at this point the (picstion may as well be 
raised, and answered, "Whence conies this spirit 
which is claimed to be the real man, capable of an 



46 MODERN spmrruALiSM. 

independent and superior existence without the 
body ? Bodies come into existence by natural gen- 
eration ; but whence comes the spirit ? Is it a part 
of the body ? If so, it cannot be immortal ; for 
"that which is born of the flesh is flesh." John 
3:6. Is it supplied to human beings at birth ? If 
so, is there a great storehouse, somewhere, of souls 
and spirits, ready made, from which the supply is 
drawn as fast as wanted in this world ? And if so, 
further, is it to be concluded that all spirits have had 
a pre-existence ? and then what was their condition 
in that state ? And again, how does it happen, on 
this supposition, that this spirit in each individual 
exhibits so largely the mental and moral traits of 
the earthly parents? These hypotheses not being 
very satisfactory, will it be claimed that God creates 
these spirits as fast as children are born to need 
them ? and if so, who brings them down just in the 
nick of time ? and by what process are they incar- 
nated ? But if God has, by special act, created a 
soul or spirit for every member of the human family 
since Adam, is it not a contradiction of Gen. 2 : 2, 
which declares that all God's work of creation, so 
far as it pertains to this world, was coinjolcted by the 
close of the first week of time ? Again, how many 
of the inhabitants of this earth are the offspring of 
abandoned criminality ; and can it be supposed that 
God holds himself in readiness to create souls which 
must come from his hands pure as the dew of heaven, 
to be thrust into such vile tenements, and doomed to 
a life of wretchedness and woe, at the bidding of 



THE DKAD UNCONSCIOUS., 47 

defiant lust i The irreverence of the (juestion will 
be piirdoned as an exposure of the absurdity of that 
theory which necessitates it. 

8, T/ie S2>ti'its of Jii,st Men Mule Perfect. — This 
expression is found in Heb. \'l : 23, and seems, by 
some, to recognize the idea that spirits can exist 
without the body, and are to be treated as separate 
entities. Thus interpreted it might appear to give 
some supi)ort to Spiritualism. But it will by no 
means bear such an interpretation. The apostle is 
contrasting the ])rivileges of Christians in the ])resent 
dispensation, with the situation of believers before-the 
coming of Christ. What he sets forth are blessings 
to be enjoyed in the ])resent tense. Yes, says one, 
that is just what I believe : We are come to spirits ; 
they are all about us, and tip and talk and write for 
us at our pleasure. But hold ! nothing is aftirnicd 
of spirits separately. The whole idea must be taken 
in. It is the " spirits of jimt ■men made perfect ; " 
and the participle "made perfect" agrees with 
"just men," or literally "the just made i)erfect " 
(dtKuiuv TETtleMiihuv)^ not with " Spirits. " It is the 
/y<t7i who are made perfect to whom we are said to 
have come. But there are only two localities and 
two periods, in which men are anywhere in the 
Scriptures said to be made perfect. One is in this 
life and on this earth, and refers to religious expe- 
rience (" J>e ye therefore perfect, even as your Father 
which is in heaven is perfect ") ; the other is not 
relative, but actual and absolute, and refers to the 
future immortal state when all the people of God 



48 MODEEN SPIRITUALISM. 

will enter upon eternal life together ( ' ' God having 
provided some better thing for us, that they [the 
ancient worthies] without us should not be made 
'perfect.'' Heb. 11:40). Thus, taken in either of 
the only two ways possible, the text furnishes no 
proof of Spiritualism. It doubtless refers to the 
present state, the expression, " spirits of just men," 
being simply a periphrasis for "just men," the same 
as the expression, ' ' the God of the spirits of all 
flesh " (Num. 10 : 22), means simply "the God of 
all flesh," and the words "your whole spirit, and 
soul, and body" (1 Thess. 5:23), means simply 
the whole person. 

4. Sj)lrits in Prison. — The apostle Peter uses 
an expression, which, though perhaps not often 
quoted in direct defense of Spiritualism, is relied 
upon extensively in behalf of the doctrine of the 
conscious state of the dead, which, as already shown, 
is the essential basis of Spiritualism. And such 
texts as these are here noticed to show to the gen- 
eral reader, that the Bible contains no testimony in 
behalf of that doctrine, but positively forbids it, as 
further quotations will soon be introduced to show. 
The passage now in question is 1 Peter 3:19, where, 
speaking of Christ, it says : " By which also he went 
and preached unto the spirits in prison." By the 
use of strong assumption, and some lofty flights of 
the imagination, and keeping in the background the 
real intent of the passage, a picture of rather a lively 
time in the spirit world, can be constructed out of 
this testmiony. Thus the spirits are said to be 



THE DKAD UNCONSCIOUS. 49 

the diseiiibodic'd s])irits of those who were destroyed 
l)y the' Hood. See context. They were in "prison,''' 
that is, in hell. When Christ was put to death upon 
the cross, he immediately went by Ids disembodied 
sjtii-it, down into liell and preached to those conscious 
intelligent spirits who were there, and continued that 
work till the third day when he was himself raised 
from the dead. A thought will show that this 
picture is wrong, (1) in the time, (2) in the condition 
of the people, (8) in the acting agent, and (4j in the 
end to be attainea. Thus, wdien Christ had been 
put to death, he was " quickened "' (or made alive), 
says the record, "by the Spirit." This was cer- 
tainly not a personal disembodied spirit, but that 
divine agency so often referred to in the Scriptures. 
"By which," that is, this Spirit of God, he went 
and preached. Then he did not go personally on 
this work. The " spirits " were the antediluvians ; 
for they were those who were disobedient in the 
days of Noah. Now when were they preached to 'i 
Verse 20 plainly tells us it was ^'■whoi once the 
longsuffering of God waited hi the days of JSfonh.'''' 
In accordance with these statements now let another 
picture be presented : Christ, by his Spirit which was 
in Koah (1 Peter 1 rll), and thus through Noah, 
preached to the spirits, or persons, in Noah's thne, 
who were dis(jbedient, in order to save all from the 
coming Hood who would believe. They were said 
to be "in])rison," though still living, because they 
were shut up under condemnation, and had only one 
hundred and twenty years granted them in which to 
4 



50 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

repent or perish. Thus Christ was commissioned 
to preach to men said to be in prison, because in 
darkness, error, and condemnation, though they 
were still living in the flesh. Isa. 61:1. Dr. 
Adam Clarke, the eminent Methodist commentator 
(^m loco), places the going and preaching of Christ 
in the days of Noah, and by the ministry of JSToah 
for one hundred and twenty years, and not during 
the time while he lay in the grave. Then he says : — 

"The word Trvevftaci (spirits) is supposed to render this 
view of the subject improbable, because this must mean dis- 
embodied spirits ; but this certainly does not follow ; for the 
spirits of just men made perfect (Heb. 12:23), certainly means 
righteous men, and men still in, the church militant :■ and the 
Father of spirits (Heb. 12 : 9) means men still in the body; 
and the God of the spirits of all flesh (Num. 10 : 22 and 27 : 16), 
means men, not in a disembodied state." ^ 

5. Cannot lull the aSouI. — "Fear not them 
which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul : 
but rather fear him which is able to destroy both 
soul and body in hell." Matt. 10 : 28. We know 
what it is to kill the body ; and by association of 
ideas, it seems quite natural to form a like concep- 
tion of the soul as something that can be treated in 
the same way. Then if the soul cannot be killed 
like the body, the conclusion seems easy of adoption 
that it lives right on, with all sensations preserved, 
as it was with the body before its death. If it were 
not for the pagan definition of "soul" which here 
comes in to change the current of thought, such 



1 Original edition. 



THE DEAD TTNCONSCIOUS. 51 

conclusions drawn fi-om this text would not be so 
})revalent; and a little attention to the scojje of 
Cln-ist's teachiii<r hero will readily correct the niisap- 
l)rehension. This is brought out clearly, in verye 
;5!> : "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he 
that loseth his life for my sake shall find it/' This 
is easily understood. No one will question what it 
is to lose his life ; and (Christ says that he who will 
do this for his sake, shall find it. Any one who has 
been put to death for his faith in the gospel has 
"lost his life" (had the body killed) f(U' Christ^s 
sake. But Christ says, Do not fear them, even if 
they do this. Why ^ — Because ye shall find it— ■ 
the life you lost. When shall we find it? — In the 
resurrection. John (> : 4(i ; Be v. 20 : ^-(i. The ex- 
pression "shall find it" thus becomes the exact 
equivalent of the words "are not able to kill the 
soul; " that is, are not able to destroy, or prevent us 
from gaining that life he has promised, if we suflfer 
men, for his sake, to "kill the body," or dei,rive us 
of our present life. The correctness of this view is 
demonstrated by the word employed in these in- 
stances. That word is V'MV (psHchr). It is properly 
rendered "life" in verse 3!>, and improperly ren- 
dered "soul," in verse 28. This lesson, that men 
should be willing to lose their life for Christ's sake, 
was considered so important, that it is again men- 
tioned in Matthew, and reiterated with emphasis by 
Mark, Luke, and John; and they all use this same 
word V^^v, which is rendered "life." In one in- 
stance only in all these parallel passages have the 



62 MODERN SPlElTUALTSM. 

translators rendered it ' ' soul ; ' ' and that is Matt. 
10 : 28, where it is the source of all the misunder- 
standing on that text. 

6. Souls Under the Altar. — As a part of the 
events of the fifth seal as described in Rev. 6 : 9-11, 
John says he saw the souls of the martyrs under the 
altar, and heard them crying for vengeance. If they 
covild do that, it is asked, cannot disembodied souls 
now communicate with the living? Not to enter 
into a full exposition of this scripture, and the incon- 
sistencies such a view would involve, it is sufficient 
to ask if these were like the communicating spirits of 
the present day. How many communications have 
ever been received by modern Spiritualists from 
souls confined under an altar 1 In glowing symbol- 
ism, John saw the dead martyrs, as if slain at the 
foot of the altar ; and by the figure of personification 
a voice was given to them, just as Abel's blood 
cried to God for vengeance upon his guilty brother 
(Gen. -l : 10), and just as the stone is said to cry 
out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber 
to answer it. Hab. 2 : 11. 

7. The Medium of Endor. — Aside from the 
direct teaching of the Scriptures, it is still held by 
some that there are scenes narrated in the Bible 
which show that the dead must be conscious. The 
first of these is the case of Saul and the woman of 
Endor, whom he consulted in order to communicate 
with the prophet Samuel, as narrated in 1 Samuel 28. 
Here, it must be confessed, is brought to view 
an actual case of spirit manifestation, a specimen of 



THK DKAI) UNCONSCIOtJS. 53 

ancu'iit iiecronuuicy ; for tJio (-(mditions, mctliod of 
procoduro, and ivsults, were just sueli as pertain to 
the same work in our own day. But then, as now, 
there was no truth nor good in it, as a brief review 
of the narrative will show. (1) Samuel was dead. 
(2) Saul was sore pressed by the riiilistines. Yerse 
5. (8) God had departed from him. Yerse 4. 
(4) He had cut off those who liad familiar spirits 
and wizards, out of the land, because God had for- 
bidden their presence in the Jewish theocracy, as 
an abominati(m. Yerse 3 ; Lev. 19:31. (5) Yet 
in his extremity ho had recourse to a woman with 
a familiar spirit, found ai Endor, Yerse 7. ((>) 
She asked whom she should bring up, and Saul 
answered, Samuel. Averse 11. (7) Saul was dis- 
guised, but the familiar spirit told the woman it was 
Saul, and slie cried out in alarm. Yerse 12. (8) 
Saul reassured her, and the woman went on with 
the seance. Averse 10. (9) She announced a pres- 
ence coming (not from heaven, nor the spheres, 
but) np out of the earth, and at SauPs request gave 
a description of him, showing that Saul did not him- 
self see the form. Averse 13. (lo) Saul "per- 
ceived" that it was Sanuiel (not by actual sight, but 
fron'i the woman's description ; for the Hebrew >'i; 
and the Septuagint, ytyw-xTK.:,, signify to know, or 
percci^-e, by an operation of the mind.) Yerse 14. 
(11) The woman supposed it was Samuel ; Saul 
supposed it was Samuel ; and that personation is, 
then, by the law of appearance, si>oken of, in what- 
ever it said or did, as Samuel ; as, '< Samuel said to 



54 MODERN SPIKITUALISM. 

Saul," etc. Verse 15. (12) Was Samuel really 
there as an immortal soul, a disembodied spirit, or 
as one raised from the dead ? — No ; because (c() im- 
mortal souls do not come up out of the ground, 
wrapped in mantles, and complain of being dis- 
quieted and brought up ; (Jj) Samuel was a holy 
prophet, and if he was conscious in the spirit world, 
he would not present himself at the summons of a 
woman who was practicing arts which God had for- 
bidden ; (e) God having departed from Saul, and 
having refused to communicate with him on account 
of his sins, would not now suffer his servant Samuel 
to grant him the desired communication through a 
channel which he had pronounced an abomination; 
(f7) Samuel was not present by a resurrection, for 
the Devil could not raise him, and God certainly 
would not, for such a purpose; besides Samuel was 
buried at Ramali, and could not be raised at Endor; 
{(") It was only the woman's familiar spirit, person- 
ating Samuel as he used to appear when alive — an 
aged man clothed with a mantle. His object was to 
make both the woman and Saul believe it was 
Samuel, when it was not, just as communicating 
spirits to-day try to palm themselves off for what 
they are not. As a specimen of ancient Spiritual- 
ism, this case is no particular honor to their cause ; 
and as a proof of the immortality of the soul, and 
the conscious state of the dead, it is a minus 
quantity. 

8. The TTcmsfiguration. ■ — Jesus took three of 
his disciples, Peter, James, and John, apart into a 



TIIK DKAI) UNCONSCIOUS. 



lii^^li luounttiin, and was ti-ans%ure(l before them ; 
his face became as tlie sun, and his raiment was 
white as tlie light, just as it will be in the future 
kingdom of glory, which this scene was designed to 
rei)resent. And there then ap])eared Moses and 
Elias talking with Christ. But Moses had died in 
the land of Moab nearly fifteen hundred years 
before, and it is at once concluded that the only 
way to account for his appearance on tliis occasion, 
is to suppose tliat he was still alive in the spirit 
world, and could ai)pear in a disembodied state, 
and talk with Jesus as here represented. But such 
a condusion is by no means necessary. Jesus was 
there in person, Elias was there in pdrson ; for he 
Iiad not died, but had been translated bodily from 
this earth. Now it would be altogether incongi-uous 
to suppose that the third member of this glOrious 
trio, apparently just as real as the others, was only a 
diseml)0(liod si)irit, an inmuiterial phantom. Unless 
the whole scene was merely a vision brought before 
the minds of the disciples, Moses was as really there, 
in In's own proper poi-son, as Jesus and Elias. But 
there is no way in Mhich lie could thus be present, 
except by means of a resurrection from the dead ; 
and that lie had been raised, and was there as a 
representative of the resurrection, is proved, first by 
his actual ])resence on this occasion, and secondly, 
by the fact that Michael (Christ, who is ''the resur- 
rection and the life," John 11:25) disputed with 
the J)evil (who has the power of death, Ileb. 2:14) 
al)out the body of JMoses. Jude 9. Th-re could be 



56 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

no other possible ground of controversy about the 
hody of Moses except whether or not Christ should 
give it life before the general resurrection. But 
Christ rebuked the Devil. Christ was not thwarted 
in this contest, but gave his servant life ; and thus 
Moses could appear personally upon the mount. 
This makes the scene complete as a representation 
of the kingdom of God, as Peter says it was (2 Peter 
1 : 16-18) ; namely, Christ the glorified King, Elias 
representing those who will be translated without 
seeing death, and Moses representing those who will 
be raised from the dead. These two classes embrace 
all the happy subjects of that kingdom. This view 
of the matter is not peculiar to this book. Dr. 
Adam Clarke, on Matt. 17:3, says: "The body 
of Moses was probably raised again, as a pledge of 
the resurrection."^ And Olshausen says: "For 
if we assume the reality of the restirrection of the 
hody^ and its glorification, — truths which assuredly 
belong to the system of Christian doctrine, — the 
whole occurrence presents no essential difficulties. 
The appearance of Moses and Elias, which is usually 
held to be the most unintelligible point in it, is 
easily conceived of as possible, if we admit their 
bodily glorification.'*' 

Those passages which speak of Christ as the 
" first fruits, " the "first born from the dead," the 
" first born among many brethren," " of every crea- 
ture," etc., refer only to the chief and pivotal im- 



1 Original edition. Not found in the mutilated edition, revised by 
Pr. Curry. 



TIIK DKAI) UNCONSCIOUS. 57 

portanco <»t" his own resurrection, as related to all 
others; and Acts 2<) : 23 does not declare that Christ 
should be the first one to be raised from the dead, 
but that lie first, by a resurrection from the dead, 
should show lifj^ht to the Gentiles. (See the Greek 
of this passage.) These scriptures therefore prove 
no objection to the idea that Moses had been raised 
from the dead, and as a victor over the grave, ap- 
peared with Christ upon the mount. Thus another 
supposed stronghold affords no refuge for the con- 
scious-state theory, or for Spiritualism. 

0. The Rich Man and Lazarus. — With the fea- 
tures of this parable, as found in Luke 16, which is 
su)»i)Osed to prove the dead conscious, and S])irit- 
ualism possible, the reader is doubtless familiar. It 
should ever be borne in mind that this is a pai-able; 
and in a parable, neither the parties nor the scenes 
are to be taken literally, and hence no doctrines 
can be built U])on such symbolic representations. 
But not only is it a parable, but it is a parable 
based U])on traditions largely entertained by the 
Jews themselves in the time of (-hrist. Thus 
T. J. Hudson ("Law of Psychic Phenomena,"' ]>. 
385; says: — 

"It is a historical fact, novertheloss, lliat beforn the ad- 
vent of Jesus, the Jews had become imbued with the Greek 
doctrine of Hades, which was an intermediate waiting station 
between this life and tiie judgment. In this were situated 
both Paradise and Gelienna, the one on the right, and the 
other on the left, and into these two compartments the spirits 
of the dead were separated, according to their deserts. Jesus 
found this doctrine already in existence, and in enforcing 



58 MODERN SPIKITUALISM. 

his moral precepts in his parables, he emploj^ed the symbols 
which the people understood, neither denying nor affirming 
their literal verity." 

Thus Christ appealed to the people on their own 
ground. He took the views and traditions which he 
found already among them, and arranged them into 
a parable in such a way as to rebuke their covetous- 
ness, correct their notions that prosperity and riches 
in this life are tokens of the favor and approbation 
of God, and condemn their departure from the 
teachings of Moses and the prophets. As a para- 
ble, it is not designed to show the state of the dead, 
and the conditions that prevail in the spirit world. 
But if any persist that it is not a parable, but a pre- 
sentation of actual fact, then the scene is laid, not in 
the intermediate state, but beyond the resurrection ; 
for it is after the angels had carried Lazarus into 
Abraham"' s bosom. But the angels do not bear any 
one anywhere away from this earth, till the second 
coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. 
Matt. 24 : 30, 31 ; 1 Thess. 4 : 15-17. Finding no 
support in this portion of scripture for the conscious- 
state theory, with its spiritualistic possibilities, appeal 
is next made by the friends of that theory to the 
case of — 

10. The TJiief on the Cross. —Luke 23 : 39-43. 
When one of the malefactors who were crucified 
with Jesus, requested to be remembered when he 
should come into his kingdom, according to the 
record in the common version, the Lord replied, 
' ' To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise. ' ' To 



THK DKAI) UNCONSCIOUS. 50 

go from (U'lith into panulisc the saiDO duv, means to 
go into tlie spirit world witliont a IxkIv, or discar- 
natcd, as Spiritualists claim. And so it would be 
if such was Christ's jiromise t(^ tlm thief ; hut it 
was not. 

The little adverb "to-day" holds the balance 
of power as to the meaning of this text. If it quali- 
ties Christ's words, "Verily 1 say unto thee,'' it 
gives one idea; if it qualities the words, "Thou shalt 
be with nic in paradise," we have another and very 
ditt'erent idea. And how shall the question of its 
relationship be decided? — It can be done only by the 
punctuation. 

Hero another ditticulty confronts us ; for the 
Greek was originally written in a solid line of let- 
ters, without any punctuation, or even division into 
words. Such" being the case, the i)unctuation, and 
the relation of the qualifying word "to-day," must 
be determined by the context. Now it is a fact that 
Christ did not go to paradise that day. He died, and 
was placted in the t(unb, and the third day rose from 
the dead. Mary w^as tlie tirst to meet him, and 
sought to worship him. But he said, "Touch me 
not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father." John 
20: 17. Paradise is wdiere the Father is (see 2 Cor. 
12:2-4; Kev. 2:7; 2-2: 1, 2), and if Christ had not 
l)een to his Father when Mary met him the third day 
after his crucitixion, he had not then been to ])ara- 
dise; therefore it is not possible that he made a 
])roniise to the tliief on the day of his crucitixion, 
that he should be with him tlud day in paradise. 



60 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

But further, the day of the crucifixion was the 
daj before the Sabbath; and it was not lawful to 
leave criminals on the cross during that day. John 
19: 31. If they were still living when the time came 
to take them from the cross, they were taken down, 
and their legs were broken to prevent their escape. 
The soldiers on this occasion broke the legs of the 
two thieves, because they were still alive ; ' ' but 
when they came to Jesus and saw that he was 
dead already, they brake not his legs." Yerses 
32, 33. The thief therefore lived over into the 
next day. 

Thus there are two absolutely insuperable objec- 
tions against allowing the adverb, "to-day," to 
qualify Christ's promise, " Tliou shalt be with me in 
paradise: " (1) Christ did not go to paradise that 
day; and (2) The thief did not die that day. Before 
these facts the conscious- state argument built upon 
this incident, vanishes into thin air. Just place the 
comma (a punctuation mark not invented till 1490) 
after "to-day" instead of before it, and let that 
word qualify the verb "say" and emphasize the 
time when it was spoken, and all is harmonious. 
The thief's request did not pertain to that day, but 
looked forward to the time when Christ should come 
into his kingdom; and Christ's promise did not 
pertain to that day, but to the time in the thief's 
request; so he did not falsify it by not going to 
his Father for three days afterward. The thief is 
quietly slumbering in the tomb; but Christ is soon 
coming into his kingdom. Then the thief will be 



THE DEAD UNCONSCIOUS. ♦) I 

romcmbered, bo i-aisod from the tU-ad, and be witli 
Christ ill that paradise; into which lie will then 
introduce all his ])eo|)k'. Thus all is as ck-ar as a 
sunbeam, when the text is freed from the bungling 
tinkering of men. 

The strongest texts and incidents which are ap- 
pealed to in defense of the conscious-state theory, 
have now been examined. If these do not sustain 
it, nothing can be found in the Bible which will 
sustain it. All are easily harmonized with these. 
Thus in Paul's desire to "depart and be with 
Christ" (Phil. 1 : 2;i), he does not there tell us 
v'hcn he will be with Christ; but he does tell us in 
many other i)laces; and it is at the resurrection and 
the coming of Christ. Phil. 8:11; 1 Thess. 4 : l<i, 
17. When he speaks of our being clothed upon 
with our house from heaven (2 Cor. 5:2), he tells 
us that it is when "mortality " is "swallowed up of 
life." But that is only at the last trump. 1 Cor. 
15:61-o4. If we are told about the woman who 
had had seven husbands (^Matt. 22 : 23-28), no hint 
is given of any reunion till after the resurrection. 
If God calls himself "not the God of the dead, but 
of the living " (Matt. 22 : 82), it is because he 
speaks of "those things that be not as though they 
were " (Kom. 4 : IT), and the worthies of whom this 
is spoken, are sure to live again (lleb. 11 : 15, Iti), 
and hence are now spoken of as alive in his sight, 
because they are so in his purpose. Texts which 
speak of the dejjarture and return of the soul (Gen. 
85:18; 1 Kings 17:21, 22), are referable to the 



^^ MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 



"breath of life," which is the meaning of the word 
in these instances rendered "souh" 

Three passages only have been referred to, which 
declare positively that the dead know not anything. 
It was thought preferable to answer certain objec- 
tions, before introducing further direct testimony. 
But there are many such passages, a few more of 
which will now be presented, as a fitting conclusion 
to this branch of the subject. The reader's careful 
attention is invited to a few of the various texts, and 
the conclusions that follow therefrom. 

1. Death and A7c-(^>.— Death, in numerous pas- 
sages is compared to sleep, in contrast with the 
wakeful condition. See Ps. 18 : 3; Job 7 : 21; John 
11 : 11; Acts 7 : 60; 1 Cor. 11 : 30; 15 : 51; 1 Thess. 
4 : 14; etc. But there is only one feature in sleep 
by virtue of which it can be taken as a figure of 
death; and that is, the condition of unconsciousness 
which shuts up the avenues of one's senses to all 
one's environment. If one is not thus unconscious 
in death, the figure is false, and the comparison 
illogical and misleading. 

2. Thoughts Perish.— ^o David testifies: "Put 
not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in 
whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he 
feturneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts 
perish." Ps. 146:3, 4. The word "thoughts" 
does not here mean simply the projects and purposes 
one has in view, which do often fail, when the 
author of them dies, but it is from a root which 
means the act of thinking, the operation of the mind; 



TIIK DKAl) UNCUNSCJOUS. 63 

and in dciith, that entirely ceases. It cannot there- 
fore be the dead who come out of the unseen with 
such intelligence as is shown in Si)iritualisni. 

:^. .A///.S' Sttdeinent. — Speaking of a dead man, 
,Iob (14:21) says: "His sons come to honor, and 
he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but 1>g 
]»erceiveth it n(.t of them." If the dead cannot take 
cognizance of matters of so much interest as these, 
how can they communicate witli the living as the 
sj)nMts do^ 

4. Xo Eememhrance of God. — David, in Ps. 
0:5 and 115:17, again tcstities : "For in death 
there is no remembrance of thee : in the grave who 
shall irive thee thanks? " " The dead praise not the 
Lord, neither any that'g<» down into silence."" Is it 
possible that any righteinis man, if ho is living and 
conscious after going into the grave, would not 
praise and give thanks to the Lord? 

5. UvzdJaliS Testimony. — Ilezekiah was sick 
unto death. Isa. ;5.S : 1. But he prayed, and the 
Lord added to his days fifteen years. Yerse 5. 
For this he j)raised the Lord, and gave his reasons 
for so doing in the following WM)rds (verses 18, l!»): 
" P'or the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot 
celebrate thee: they that go down into the i)it can- 
not hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he 
shall praise thee, as I do this day." This is a clear 
affirmation that in death he would not be able to do 
what he was able to do while living. 

6. Neto Testammt Evidence. — The New Testa- 
ment bears a corresponding testimony on this sub- 



64 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

ject. None will be saved except such as Christ 
raises up at the last day. John 6 : 39, 40. No one 
is to receive any reward before the resurrection. 
Luke 14 : 14; 2 Tim. 4 : 8. No one can enter God's 
kingdom before being judged; but there is no exe- 
cution of judgment before the coming of Christ. 
2 Tim. 4:1: Acts 17:31; Luke 19:35; etc. If 
there is no avenue to a future life by a resurrection, 
then all who have gone down in death are perished. 
1 Cor. 15 : 18. Such texts utterly forbid the idea of 
consciousness and activity, on the part of any of the 
human family, in death. 

This part of the subject need not be carried 
further. It has been dwelt upon so fully simply 
because of its determinate bearing on the question 
under discussion. Spiritualism rests its whole title 
to credence on the claim that the intelligences which 
manifest themselves are the spirits of the dead. 
The Bible says that they are not the spirits of the 
dead. Then if the Bible is true, the whole system 
rests upon deception and falsehood. No one who 
believes this will tamper with Spiritualism. One 
cannot have Spiritualism and the Bible, too. One or 
the other must be given up. But he who still holds 
on to the theory that the dead are conscious, con- 
trary to the testimony of the Scriptures has no shield 
against the Spiritualistic delusion,' and the danger is 
that he will sooner or later throw the Bible away. 



CHAPTER FOUR 



THEY ARE EVIL ANQELS. 

AS the Bil)l(! ])laiiily shows wliat the sjtirits which 
C'oinimniicate are nnf^ it just as clearly reveals 
also what they arc; so that in no particular is one 
left to conjecture or guesswork. There is an order 
of beini2;8 brought to view in the Scriptures, above 
man but lower than God or Christ, called " angels." 
No Bible believer questions the existence of such 
beings. It is sometimes asserted that angels are 
departed human spirits; but this cannot be; for they 
appear upon the stage of action before a single 
huiium being had died, or a disembodied spirit could 
have existed. AVhen the world was created, Job 
declares that " tlu; morning st.irs sang together, and 
all the Sons of (iod shouted for joy.'' These are 
two of the names ai)])lied to these beings, but they 
are also known by a number of others. They are 
167 times called angels; 61 times, angel of the Lord; 
8 times, angel of God; 17 times, his angels; 41 
times, cherub and chei'ul)im. There are also such 
names as seraphim, chariots, God's hosts, watchers, 
holy ones, thrones, dominions, ])rincipalitie8 and 
powers, ^ all refen-ing to the ditiereiit orders of 
these heavenly beings. 

A part of this host fell into sin, and thereby 
became evil, or fallen angels. A reasonal)le state- 
5 [ «:, ] 



66 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

ment of how this came about can be given, but no 
reason for the act itself. Sin cannot be explained. 
To explain it would be to give a reason for it; and 
to give a reason for it would be to excuse it; and 
then it would cease to be sin. In the beginning a 
condition existed which was in itself right and essen- 
tial; but which nevertheless made sin possible. It 
is one of the inevitable conditions of the highest 
glory of God, that all his creatures should serve him 
from choice, under the law of love, and not by com- 
pulsion, as a machine, under the law of necessity. 
To secure this end, they must be made free moral 
agents. Thus to angels was given the freedom of 
the will, the same as to man. They were in a state 
of purity and happiness, with every condition favor- 
able for a continuance in that condition; but in the 
free choices of their free wills, they of course had 
the power, if they should unaccountably see fit so 
to use it, to turn away from truth and right, and 
rebel against God. This some of them did. So 
w^e find Jude speaking of " the angels that kept not 
their first estate" (Jude 6), and Peter, of "the 
angels that sinned " (2 Peter 2:4); and these they 
further declare, were cast down to Tartarus, and are 
reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto 
the judgment of the great day. 

There must have been to this rebellion an insti- 
gator and leader; and we accordingly find the Bible 
speaking of such a personage; the whole company 
being described as "the Devil and his angels." 
Our Lord pointed out this leader in evil, and his 



THEY AKE EVIL ANGELS. 67 

work, in John 8 : 44 : <' Ye are of your Father the 
Devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. 
He was a murderer from the bei::iniiiiig, and ai)ode 
not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. 
When he si)eaketh a lie, he sjyeaketh of liis own: 
for he is a liar and the father of it." This reveals 
the ^reat facts in his case. lie abode not in the 
truth. Then he was once in the truth; and as he is 
a liar, and the father of it, he was the first one to 
de|)art from truth and introduce falsehood and evil 
into the universe of God. 

In Isaiah (14 : 12-14) this- i)eing is addressed as 
Lucifer, or the day-star; and the ])roi)het exclaims, 
"How art thou fallen from Ir.'uven, O Lucifer, 
son of the morning ! liow art thou cut down to the 
ground, which didst weaken the nations! '' The fid- 
lowing verses indicate that the nature of his trans- 
gression was self-exaltation and pride of heart: 
'^For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend 
into heaven, I will exalt my thi-one above the stars 
of (rod: I will sit also ui)on the mount of the con- 
gregation, in the sides of the north : I will ascend 
above the lieights of the clouds; I will be like the 
Most High." Paul, in 1 Tim. 3 : ('>, intimates that 
it was this pride that caused the ruin of this once 
holy being. Of an elder ]ie says tluit he must not 
be a novice, "lest being lifted up with pride he fall 
into the condemnation of the Devil," or that sin for 
which the Devil was condemned. 

In Ezekiel 28, Satan is again spoken of ujider the 
pseudonym of "the prince of Tyrus." Verse 2 



68 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

shows his pride : ' ' Because thine heart is lifted up, 
and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat 
of God," etc. Verses 12^15 describe his beauty, 
wisdom, and apparel, aud his exalted office as a 
high cherub, before his sin and fall. Yerse 15 
reads : ' ' Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the 
day thou wast created, till iniquity was found in 
thee." 

These passages give us a sufficient idea of the 
origin of Satan and how such an incarnation of evil 
has come to exist. The Tartarus into which he and 
his angels were cast, according to Peter, is defined 
by leading lexicographers, as meaning the dark, 
void, interplanetary spaces, surrounding the world. 
Using the serpent as a medium, this apostate angel, 
thus cast out, plied our first parents with his tempta- 
tion by preaching to them the immortality of the 
soul, " Thou slialt not surely die," and alas! seduced 
them also into rebellion. The dominion which was 
given to Adam (Gen. 1 : 28) he thus alienated to 
Satan, by becoming his servant; for Paul says, 
' ' Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves 
servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye 
obey?" Kom. 6:16. Now, consequently, such 
titles as "prince of this world," "prince of the 
power of the air," "god of this world," etc., are 
applied to him, because he has by fraud usurped that 
place. John 14 : 30; Eph. 2 : 2; 2 Cor. 4 : 4. He, 
of course, employs "his angels" to co-operate with 
him in his nefarious work. 

Thus clearly do we have set before us just the 
agencies, — the Devil and his angels, — which are 



THEY AKK KVIL ANGELS. 69 

adapted, both by nature and inclination, to carry on 
just such a woi-k as is seen in lSj)iritualisin. lint 
how do we know, some one may ask, but that Spir- 
ituaUsm is the work of the good angels? — We know 
that it is not, because good angels do not lie. They 
never would come to men, professing to be the 
s])irits of their dead friends, and imitate and person- 
ate tliem to deceive, knowing that the mediums did 
not know, and could not ascertain that they were 
altogether another and diti'erent order of beings. 
But the evil angels, led by the father of lies, and 
cradled, and drilled, and skilled, and polished, in the 
school of lying, would be delighted to deceive mtm 
in this very way, by^ pretending to be their dead 
friends, and then by working u])on their alfections 
and love for the ones they could skilfully personate, 
bi'ing them under their influence and lead them cap- 
tive at their will. 

These evil angels are ex])erts in deception. They 
have had six thousand years' experience. They are 
well acquainted with the hunum family. They can 
read character. They study temperament. They 
ac(juaint themselves minutely witli personal history. 
They know a thousand things which only they and 
the individual they are trying to ensnare, are aware 
(►f. They know many things beyond the knowledge 
of men. They can easily carry the news of the 
•decease of a friend, ami the description of a death- 
l>i'd scene, to other friends thousands of miles away, 
and iiHUiths before the ti'uth through ordinary chan- 
nels can reach them, so that when it is verified, their 
influence over them may be increased. (See page lill) 



70 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

There is nothing that has yet taken place, of how 
ever inexplicable a nature, and nothing whicli even 
the imagination may anticipate, which is not, and will 
not be, easily attributable to these unseen angels. 
They are lying spirits; for the fundamental principle 
on which they are acting is a lie ; but they tell enough 
truth to sway and captivate the minds of men. It 
matters not how sacred the field in which they tread, 
nor how hallowed the associations which they invade, 
they press into every spot where it is possible, by 
spinning another thread, to strengthen their web of 
deception. 

And in what dulcet and siren tones they woo their 
victims to lay aside all resistance to their influence, 
to become receptive and passive, and yield them- 
selves to their control ; and when they have them 
thus helpless in their arms, they deliberately and 
cruelly instil into their minds the virus of ungov- 
ernable lust, the leprosy of unconquerable rebellion 
against the government of Heaven. That this lan- 
guage does not misrepresent nor slander them, will 
be shown from their own testimony, before the close 
of this book. 

The thought is not overlooked that many even of 
those who do not profess to be Spiritualists, deny 
the existence of any such being as a personal Devil, 
or of personal evil angels, his agents. He is no 
doubt well pleased with this, as such people can the 
more easily be made the victims of his wiles. But 
these same persons would no doubt acknowledge the 
existence, as real beings, of God, Christ, and the 



THKV AKK K\ll. AN(fKI,S.. 71 

good an<^ol8. This fact boiiig cstablislu'd, hy parity 
of roasoiiiiif^ tlio ])(^vil and liis aiigc^ls become real 
boinsi;s also. The same ariijumeiits which show that 
God and Christ exist as personal beings may be used 
to show that the Devil and his angels are pca-sonal 
beings also. He who denies that there is a personal 
Devil, mnst be prepared also to deny that there is a 
personal C'hrist. So far as the argument for })ersonal 
existence is concerned, Christ and good angels stand 
on one side of the CMjuation, and the J)evil and his 
angels on the other; and whoever would rub out the 
one, must rub out the other also. 

Christ said that he "beheld Satan as lightning fall 
from lieaven. " Luke 10 : is. John in the Jieve- 
lation (1:2:7) beheld a war in Jieaven. ''JMichael 
[Christ] and his angels fought against the dragon 
[Satan] ; and the dragon fought, and his angels.'*' 
On tlie ground that there is no Devil, this would be 
a wonderfid battle — (Mu'ist and his angels, who are 
real beings, fighting furiously against myths and 
nonentities which have not even the substance of a 
phantom. 

To endorse the doctrine of a ]>ersonal Devil, is not 
to endorse the grossly absurd caricatures conjured 
up by morbid imaginations, and po])ular theology, 
— a being with bat's wings, horns, hoofs, and a 
dart-pointed tail. Yet upon such pictorial fables he 
doubtless looks with complacency; as they are 
calculated still further to destroy faith in his exist- 
ence, and enable him the better to cover his tracks 
and carry on his work among men. Nevertheless 



72 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

the only rational hypothesis on which to account for 
the present condition of this world (which every one 
must admit is full of devil ishness), the existence of 
evil, and the presence of sickness, suffering, and 
death, is the account the Bible gives us of fallen 
angels and fallen men. ITnfallen angels are beings 
of mighty power. One of them slew in one night 
185,0<»0 Assyrians (3 Kings 19:35); and the one 
who appeared at the time of Christ's resurrection 
had a countenance like the lightning, and raiment 
v/hite as snow, and before him the keepers of the 
tomb fell like dead men. Matt. 28 : 3, 4. A fall 
from their high estate, though it would impair their 
strength and power, cannot be supposed to have 
wholly deprived ilwm of these qualities ; therefore 
the fallen angels still have capabilities far superior 
to those of men. The only defense mankind has 
against them is found in Christ, who circumscribes 
their power (for they are kept in chains, 2 Peter 
2 : 4), and makes provision by which we may resist 
them. Ei>h 6:11; James 4:6-8; 1 John 5:18. 
The question why they are permitted to continue 
finds solution in the thought that God is consistently 
giving to sin time and opportunity to develop itself, 
fully show its nature, and manifest its works, to all 
created intelligences, so that when it shall finally be 
wiped out of existence, with all its originators, aiders, 
and abetters, as in God's purpose it is to be (Rev. 
20 : 11, 15; 2 Peter 3 : 7, 13; Rev. 5 : 13), there will 
ever after remain an object-lesson sufiicient to safe- 
guard the universe against a repetition of the evil. 



WAKNINiiS AOAlN!<r KVIL SITKITS. 



73 



Only some OiMtO yoars are allotted to tins work of 
evil; ami (JOtio yearn are as iiotliiiii;' coiiiparcd witii 
eternity. 

WARNINGS AGAINST EVIL SPIRITS. 

The Seri])ture8 ])laiiily point out the working of 
these ajjenta of wickedness, and warn us against 
them. In 1 Tim. 4 : 1, we read : <' Now the Spirit 
speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some 
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing 
spirits, and doctrines of devils." This shows that 
these spirits make it an ohject to seduce, or deceive, 
to draw men away from the ti-ue faith, and cause 
them to receive, instead, the doctrines they teach, 
which are called "doctrines of devils;" and this 
scri])ture is written to ]>ut men on their guard 
against them. 

Again Tanl says: <'Forwe wrestle not against 
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against 
powers, against the riders of the darkness of this 
world, against spiritual wickedness [margin, "wicked 
spirits"] in high places." Eph. 6 : 1'2. And he 
adjures his readers to put on the whole armor of 
God to be able to resist them. 

The a})ostle Peter exhorts to the same purpose: 
" Be sober, be vigilant ; because your adversary 
the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking 
whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in 
the faith." 1 Peter 5:8, D. If our ears do not 
deceive us, a good deal of this roaring is heard in 
the ranks of Spiritualists, where, by invisible raj)- 
ping, agitated furniture, clairvoyance, clairaudience, 



74 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

writing, speaking, marvels, and wonders, he seeks 
to set the world on tiptoe of curiosity and expecta- 
tion, and bewilder men into a departure from the 
faith and the acceptance of the doctrines of devils. 
He is cunning enough not to ' ' roar " in a way to 
frighten and repel, but only to attract attention, and 
lead multitudes, through an overweening curiosity 
and wonder at the marvels, to come thoughtlessly 
within the sphere of his influence. 

The prophet Isaiah also has something to say 
directly upon this subject : *■ ' And when they shall 
say unto you. Seek unto them that have familiar 
spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and tliat mutter : 
should not a people seek unto their God ? for the 
living to the dead ? " Isa. 8 : 19. That is, is it 
consistent for living people to go to dead ones for 
their knowledge ? The following verse shows where 
we should go for light and truth : "To the law and 
to the testimony : if they speak not according to 
this word, it is because there is no light in them." 
The time has certainly come when many are saying 
just what the text points out, and seeking to the 
dead, to familiar spirits, and wizards, for knowl- 
edge. Those practices which in the Bible are 
enumerated as "charming," "enchantment," "sor- 
cery," "witchcraft," "necromancy," "divination," 
" consulting with familiar spirits," etc., are more or 
less related, and are all really from one source. So 
in modern times different names indicate substan- 
tially the same thing. Thus Mr. Hudson, in 
<' Psychic Phenomena," p. v, says: — ■ 



WARNINGS AiJAmST EVIL Sl'IRITS. 75 

" Tt has, hovvover, lonj,' been fell by the iiblcst thinkers of 
our time tliat all i)sychic man ili'stat ions of the luimaii in- 
U'llcct, normal or abnormal, wlu'thcr dcsifniatt'd by llit" name 
of mesmerism, hypnotism, somnambulism, trance, spiritism, 
demonolojjy, miracle, mental therapeutics, genius, or insanity, 
are in some way related." 

Seven, at least, of the foregoiiijj; names are no 
doubt in the warj) and woof of Spiritualism; and 
he might have added mind -rcadino; and Christian 
Seience. And Si)iritualists admit that their work is 
the same as that described by the Bible terms above 
quoted. Thus, Allen Putnam, a Spiritualistic writer, 
says : — 

"The doctrine that the oracles, soothsaying, and witch- 
craft of past ages were kinthed to these manifestations of our 
day, I, for one, most fully l)elieve." 

In a pam]»hlet by the same autlior, entitled, 
"Mesmerism, Si»iritiialism, Witchcraft, and Mira- 
cle," p. <», he says : — 

"As seen by me now. Mesmerism, Spiritualism, Witch- 
craft, Miracles, all belong to one family, all have a common 
root, and are developed by the same laws." 

To all these, therefore, the text under notice 
(Isa. 8: 11>, l^»>) applies. We are to bring them to 
the standard of ''the law and the testimony,'" and 
"if they s]* 'uk not according to this witrd , . . 
there is no liglit in them." The living shoidd n(»t 
seek to the dead. 

In Rev, 1«; : 13, 14, the same spirits are again 
brought to view, and called ''unclean spirits," and 
"spirits of devils.'' Their last work of deception 
is to go forth to the kings of the earth, and of the 



76 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

whole world, to gather them to the battle of the 
great day of God Almighty. Thus all that is re- 
vealed of them from beginning to end (and scrip- 
tures might be multiplied on the point) furnishes 
the most cogent reason why all should be keenly 
awake to their existence and their work, and be ever 
watchful against their influence and approach. 



CHAPTER FIVE 



WHAT THE SPIRITS TEACH. 

IT lias ])t'on sliowu in tlio itrcccdiiii!: ch ii»ters that 
the iinseen '' controls "' {{ha beiii'.s who control 
tlie inc'diurns) in Spirituulisni, are not the siiirits of 
tlie dead, but are fallen ani;els or spirits of devils. 
This fact will be contirmcd by a brief glance at some 
of their teachings ; iar we are to renieinhcr that if 
thev speak not according to the law and the testi- 
mony th -re is no light in them. It matters not that 
what they teacli may l)e supported by signs and 
wonders beyond tlie coin]ircliension of the human 
mind. That is no guarantee of truth; for such phe- 
nojnena are to be wrought, as will soon be shown, 
to prove a lie. The Lord anciently ])ut his people 
on their guard in this respect. Dent. 13 : 1 ,3, 5 : 
"If there arise am-j-ig you a ])ro])lK't, or a dreamer 
of dreams, luid giveth th, e a sign or a wonder, and 
the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he 
spake unto thee, saying, Let us go a'ter other gods, 
which thou hast not known, and let us serve them ; 
thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that 
proi)het, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord 
your God ])rovrth you, to kn(.w whether ye love 
the Lord your God with all yoiu- heart aiul with all 
your soul." " And that prophet, or that dreamer of 

[77] 



YS MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

dreams, shall be put to death ; because he hath spoken 
to turn you away from the Lord your God, . . . out 
of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee 
to walk in." 

Thus the fact that one who professed to be a 
prophet could perform a sign or wonder, showing 
his connection with some unseen power, was not 
enough to shield him from condemnation and pun- 
ishment, if what he undertook to prove by that sign 
or wonder was contrary to the truth, and tended to 
lead away from God. The teaching of any system 
is an important part of the fruit it bears; and by 
that, according to our Lord's own rule, we are to 
judge it, and not by any power or mighty works 
connected with it, however wonderful they may be, 

" ' T is not the broad phylactery 

Nor stubborn fasts, nor stated prayers 
That make us saints. We judge the tree 
By what it bears." 

— Alice Carey. 

It is therefore pertinent to look sufficiently at 
the teachings of the spirits to ascertain their char- 
acter. Here we shall find some most damaging 
testimony; for — 

1. They Deny God. — It is no pleasure to tran- 
scribe the utterances of practical atheism ; yet enough 
should be given to show what they teach on the great 
fundamental principles of Christianity. At a seance, 
reported in the Banner of Light, July 11, 1868, the 
following questions were addressed to the spirits, 
and the accompanying answers received: — • 

" Qiies. — It is said in the Bible that man is made in 
the image of God. Please tell us what that image is. 



WHAl' THE SPmU'S TEACH. YS 

" Ant<. — He is made in the image of everything that 
ever was, that is, or tiiat ever shall be. He holds within his 
caliber everything that exists, that ever has existed, or that 
ever will exist. Now, God is inchub-d in this. If he exists at 
all, he exists everywhere (and we have taken in everything), 
every place, «'very name, every condition. I bi'lit-ve that tbc 
human stands above all things else, and holds within its 
i-mbrace all tlie past, present, and future. In this sense lie 
is cre.it(>d and exists in the image of (Jod. 

" (^. — What is (Jod essentially'.' 

" vi. — Kverything. Kssiutially you are God, and I am 
(Jod — the tlowers, the grass, tlu' pebbles, the stars, the moon, 
the sun, everything is God." 

Tlie Devil, tliroiijjjli the serpent in tlie garden, 
tanglit Adam and Eve that tlie sold is immortal, 
and has transfused the same idea very successfully 
through ])aganism, llymanism, and Protestantism; 
hut he also said, " Ye shall he as gods ; " and now, 
it seems, he is trying to make the world swallow this 
other leg of his falsehood; but by putting it forth 
under the form of the old pagan pantheism, that 
everything is God, and God is everything, he betrays 
the lie he uttered in Eden; for in that case^ Adam 
and Eve were no more gods after they ate than they 
were before. 

Another seance, reported in the Banner about 
twenty years later than the one quoted above, April 
28, 1888; an incjuirer addressed to the "spirits" a 
question about God, and received answer, a portion 
of which is presented below : — 

^* Ques. — Some Spiritualists, I U*arn, believe in a God: 
otherwi.se they would not pray to him — taking for granted 
that there is such a being. Please enlighten us. 

" Ans. — We have yet to come in contact with a thorough 
Spiritualist, one who understands something of spiritual life 
and the revelations made b\' returning spirits, who directly 



80 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

believes in a personal God. True, many Spiritualists and 
many returning spirits offer their invocations to the 'Great 
Supreme Spirit of all life and intelligence,' not because they 
expect to change the order of law, or to come into direct 
communication with, or nearness to, a Great Supreme Being, 
clothed in the image of man, but because they desire to enter 
an atmosphere of harmony, to uplift their own souls to a 
plane of thought which will bring spiritual inspiration to 
their minds. We make a distinction between that Great 
Supreme Overruling Force which we may call the Superior 
Spirit of Intelligence, Wisdom, and Love, and the personal 
Deity, clothed in the image of man, gigantic in stature, 
jealous and revengeful by nature, which has been set up and 
worshiped as the Christian Jehovah. We know of no Spiri- 
tualist — let us repeat it — who believes in such a personal 
God, but we can believe and accept the idea, though it may 
pass beyond almost our finite comprehension, that there is a 
grand universal Spirit permeating all forms of existence, 
that this great source of light, of activity and vitality 
vibrates with intelligence, and that it is superior to all 
organic forms, however grand they may prove to be." 

The same views have been taught all along by 
the " spirits " of Spiritualism, as could be shown by 
extracts dating as far back as ISoS, only ten years 
after the '^ Rochester Knockings." And though 
Spiritualism is now assuming more of the sedate 
speech of organized Christianity, the spirits do 
not modify their teaching in respect to God. In 
"Automatic, or Spirit Writing," p. 148 (1896), are 
given many messages from the spirits through the 
mediumship of Mrs. S. A. Underwood, wife of the 
editor of the Ph,'doso])hlcal Jou/rnal^ Chicago. The 
" spirits " set forth their teaching in answer to ques- 
tions by the medium, some of which have reference 
to God though his name is not used. Thus on page 
118, this conversation is given : — 



WllAt tHE Sl'lRlTS TEACU. . SI 

'■• Qiif)*.— Yon often in these communications speak of 
the bindiiij;- laws of spiritual life — tiiat because of them you 
cannot jrive us such and such information, etc. Now who 
makes those laws, and whence came they; and how are they 
taught? 

"^n«.— Thou say'st ' who ' — therefore we cannot an- 
swer. Go back to the first (juestion and ask one at a time. 

" Q. — Well, wiu) makes the laws ? 

"-.4. — Spirits are not bondag^ed by persons. 

" Q. — Then how do you come to know those laws ? 

""1- — Pharos will now answer. Spiritual laws are spiri- 
tually perceived, as soon as the physical perceptions are got 
rid of. 

" 9. — Could you e.vplain to us those laws ? 

"-4. — Courses of teaching from our side are as necessary 
for you to understand even the rudimentary laws of Being, 
as courses in your colleges; and guessed-at spirit knowledge 
from your bounded view^ must always fail in accurate 
wording." 

It will be perceived that the answers to these 
questions are, from the beginning, evasive; but the 
real idea entertained clearly shines through the thin 
veil drawn over to conceal it. The questions per- 
tain to the source or authorship of the "laws of 
spiritual life;" and this would generally be under- 
stood to be God. But on a technicality the spirits 
refuse to answer. The question is made plainer, 
and the answer is that "spirits are not bondaged 
hy p<r.s(m,s; " that is to say that spirits have noth- 
ing to do with personalities, and that no personal 
being has anything to do with those laws. There is 
therefore uo Clod who formulates and promulgates 
them. ' No wonder the question followed how they 
came to know these laws; and it was a very conve- 
nient answer that we will know when we get there 
u 



82 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

and have lost all physical perceptions. A desire for 
some explanation of those laws is met with the not 
very satisfactory information that they (the spirits) 
would have to give those in our sphere a course of 
teaching, like a college course, before we could un- 
derstand even the rudimentary laws of Being. The 
only thing clear in all this is that there is no God; 
at least no personal God such as the Bible reveals. 
To the ' ' grand whole, ' ' whatever that may be, they 
give the name of the ' ' All of Being. ' ' In answer to a 
question concerning "personalities," they are called 
' ' atoms emanating from the same source — parts 
of the great All of Being, partaking of the general 
characteristics of the grand whole. ' ' — - Page 1J^9. 

Reader, how does all this compare in your own 
mind with the God of the Bible, the Creator of all 
things, the loving Father of us all, who has for his 
creatures more tender regard and pity than a, father 
can feel for his own children, whose very name and 
nature is Love, and who has purposed infinite good 
for all men, and will carry it out unless they, as free 
moral agents, by their own sin, prevent his doing for 
them what he desires to do ? The Bible is not re- 
sponsible for the aspersions cast upon God by a 
false theology, which misrepresent his character and 
give occasion for the charges of vindictiveness and 
vengeance and awful tyranny, so freely made by 
fallen angels and wicked men. They do not belong 
to him who is the source of all goodness and mercy; 
and we would labor to biing those who have per- 
verted views of God back to a right conception of 



WHAT TUK SI'IRITS TEACH. 83 

till' groat Friend of sinners, as he has revealed him- 
self in his holy word. 

2. Th, 11 l),inj Jr.siis CJin'sf. — Christ is revealed 
as the divine Son of the P'ather; and to deny that he 
was or is any more than any other man is surely to 
vleny him; and the scripture says that "whosoever 
denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father/' 
1 John 2 : 23. The followinc; is what the " spirits'"' 
began to teach in the earliest stages of Spiritualism 
concerning Christ : — 

"What i.s the iticaniii-,' of the word Christ? — 'T is not, as 
^'i'ticraily supiKiscd, tiic Son of the Creator of ail tliinf^s. Any 
just and perfect being is Christ. The crucifixion of Christ is 
nothing more than the crucifixion of the s|)irit, wiiich all 
liave to contend with before becoming perfect and righteous. 
The miraculous conception of Christ is merely a fabulous 
talc." — li^pintual I'oleyraph, JVo. 37. 

How fully does this declaration that any good 
man is Christ oi)en the way for the fulfilment of the 
Saviour's prophecy that in the last days many 
false Christs and false prophets shall arise, and shall 
deceive many. See Matt. 24 : 24. A prospectus 
of the Tratk Seekt^r contained these words : " It 
shall be the organ through which the christs of the 
last dispensation will choose to speak." 

A little later, July 11>, 1,S02, there was published 
in the Banner of L!</ht a lecture on Sj)iritualism by 
Mrs. C. L. V. Hatch, in which she spoke of Christ 
as follows : — 

"Of Jesus of Nazareth, personally, wc have but little to 
say. Certain it is, we Hnd sufficient that is divine in his life 
and teaciiings, wiihout professing to believe in the fables (.f 



84 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 



theologians respecting his birth and parentage. We are con 
tent to take the simple record as it stands, and to regard him 
as the son of Joseph and Mary, endowed with such purity and 
harmony of character as fitted him to be the Apostle and 
Revelator of the highest wisdom ever taught to man. It is 
the fundamental article in the creed of modern Christianity, 
that Jesus was divine in his nature, and of miraculous origin 
and nativity. Now, no human being of ordinary intelligence, 
un warped by educational bias, would ever profess to believe in 
such a monstrous figment, which only shows the blindness of 
superstitious prejudice." 

Here is something twenty-four years later. A 
seance reported in the Banner of Light, Oct. 9, 
1886, gives the following question and answer: 

" §Mes.— Do 'spirits' generally believe in the divinity of 
Jesus Christ; that he was the Son of God; that he was cruci- 
fied, dead, and buried, and rose again the third day for the 
saving of all who should believe in him ? 

". !;?,«.— No; spirits generally — advanced spirits, those 
who are intelligent, having studied deeply into the principles 
of life — do not accept the theory of the divinity of Jesus 
Christ.; they do not believe that he was crucified for man- 
kind, in the accepted understanding of that term." 

Some years ago a class was formed in Kew York 
City for the purpose of investigating what is called 
the spiritual philosophy. Before that class, Dr. 
Weisse said : — 

"Friend Orton seems to make rather light of the com- 
munications from spirits concerning Christ. It seems, never- 
theless, that all the testimony received from advanced spirits 
only shows that Christ was a medium and reformer in Judea; 
that he now is an advanced spirit in the sixth sphere; but 
that he never claimed to be God, and does not at present. I 
have had two communications to that effect. I have also 
read some that Dr. Hare had. If I am wrong in my views of 
the Bible, I should like to know it, for the spirits and mediums 
do not contradict me.''' 



NVIIAT 'iriK SIMKITS TKACII. 85 

Tlio ])('cnliar insult licro jiurposely ofTered to tlic 
Saviour will be appreciated when it is noted that at 
about the same time the spirits located Thomas Paine, 
the well-known ske])tic, in the seventh sphei-e, one 
sphere above that of Christ. Hie must therefore 
have progressed very rapidly, seeing he so quickly 
surpassed Christ, who had over 1700 years the start 
of hiiM, 

JJefore the same class Dr. Hare is re])orted to 
have spoken as follows, which we give without 
assuming any res])onsi])ility for ihe s])ii'itual gram- 
mar therein exhibited : — 

" ITc said lli;it lie had be(Mi thus protocted from doccj)- 
tioii by tht' spirilsof Wjishin<jU)ii and Franklin, and that thi'y 
had broufi'lit .losus Clirist to him, witli whom he had also 
communicated. He had first, repelled him as an impostor; 
but became co!ivinced afterward that it was really him. He 
related that he had learned from that lu.^^h and holy spirit, 
that he was not the character that Christendom had repre 
sented him to be, and not responsible for the errors connecti'd 
with liis name, but that he was, while on earth, a medium of 
liiuh and extradrdinary jxjwers, and that it was solely through 
his m<'(liumislic capabilities that he attained so n:reat knowl- 
edge, and was enabled to practice such appariMit wonders.'* 

When Christ was u])on earth, it was envy, jeal- 
ousy, and mali(?e that moved the Pharisees against 
him (Matt 27 : 18); and it seems that he is followed 
by the same feelings in the spirit world. This is 
natural; for he who fired the heai-ts of the Pharisees 
with their malignant sjiirit, is the same one, as we 
have seen, who is working through the powers of 
darkness in the unseen woi-ld to-day. Any way to 
degrade Christ in the minds of men to a level wnth, 



8(3 MODEKN SPIRITUALISM. 

or below, the mediums of our time, and make it 
appear that they can do as great wonders as he, 
seems to be the object in view. 

There is plainly manifest an irrepressible desire 
on the part of spirits and mediums to show Christ 
to be inferior to the leaders of other great religions 
of the world, as Buddha, Confucius, Zoroaster, etc. 
Thus, at a seance held in 1864 {Banner of Light, 
June 4), the spirits were questioned as follows : — 

" Ques. — Have j'ou ever seen Confucius or Zoroaster? 

^' Ans. — Yes, many times. 

" Q. — In tlie order of degree, wliich stands %\\e higher in 
moral excellence — -Jesus Christ, Confucius, or Zoroaster? 

" A. — Confucius stands in morality higher than the other 
two. . . . Jesus himself claims to have been inspired to a 
large extent, b}^ this same Confucius. And if we are to place 
reliance ujwn the records concerning each individual, we 
shall find that Jesus spoke the truth when he tells us that he 
was inspired by Confucius." 

Indeed! Where are the records referred to? 
Where and when did Jesus "speak" the words 
attributed to him 1 And where does he tell ufi, that 
he was inspired by Confucius ? So we are to believe, 
are we, that the gospel of Jesus Christ, is only a 
rehash of what was originally wrought out in the 
brain of Confucius, and not words fresh from the 
fountain of light given him by his Father in heaven, 
to speak, as he claimed them to be. Yet he was a 
high and Jiohj medium. We wonder what standard 
of holiness and perfection the spirits can have. 

But still later, in 1896, we find the spirits putting 
forth the same teaching in reference to Jesus Christ. 
In "Automatic, or Spirit Writing," pp. 148, 149, 
we have this : — 



WHAT TIIK SIMKI'I'S TKAc'lF. 87 

" (Jiiis. — T)() you accept Jesus !is tlie model (if spiritual 
kuowleUj^e? 

"^rt*. — Shall you give us a b(>tter example? 

"Q. — Well, we are willing Id accept liim as o )|' many, 

but not as chief. 

"-■I. — Change lh(> name. Call him by other names — 
Buddha, Krishna, or Moliamiiieil, tiie spirit is one — is ever 
and ever the same. Spirit is one, not many, however often 
the name is changed. 

*' Q. — Were not .lesus, liuddha, and Mohammed distinct 
pers(jnalilies? 

"A. — No more than all atoms emanatiiiL' from tiie same 
source — parts of the great All of Ueing, paiiaking (d' llie 
general characteristics of the grand whole — hut yielding to 
environments, showed marked iiidi\idualism, sucli as tJie 
force of the times in wlii(di they ajiix-ared would create in 
their characters. 

" Q. — Are these leatfers of r(digious thought not distinct 
individualities now? 

" .1. — -NO, not on spiritual plani'S, which do not recognize 
any now." 

Tlius they persist in denyhiii^ that Jesus liolds any 
pre-ciiiitient position as a religious teaclicr. He may 
as well be called ]^iid<llia, Krishna, or Mohammed 
as Jesus. They are all the same sjiirit, all atoms of 
the great "All of Beinij;, "" all as much alike as three 
dro])S of water from the same ocean, and what is 
more bewildering still, they have now all lost their 
individuality in the spirit world. How, then, can it 
be told that Christ is in the sixth sphere, and Paine 
in the seventh ? Such teachers, though they may 
claim to be good spirits, are branded as antichrist by 
both John and Jude. John says : "Who is a liar but 
he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is anti- 
christ that denieth the Fnthi'r and the Son. " 1 John 
2:22. Again, "Every spirit thtit coufesseth not 
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of 



88 MODERN SPIRITUALISM, 

God." 1 John 4:3. According to the spirits 
Jesus Christ has no more come in the flesh than 
have Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Zoroaster, or 
any other religious teacher. They all simply yielded 
to their environments, and showed marked individu- 
alism while on this earth, and have now become 
absorbed in the " great whole " in the spirit world. 
Thus, as Jude says (verse 4), they deny "the only 
Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." 

So much for their denial of Christ in his person. 
They also deny him in his offices; for to deny and 
ridicule what he came to do, is one of the most 
effectual ways of denying him. The great work of 
Christ was the shedding of his blood to atone for the 
sins of the world; and the spirits are particularly 
bitter in denouncing that idea. If such sentiments 
were uttered only by open and professed scoffers, it 
would not do so much harm; but it is not unusual 
to find those bearing the title of "Keverend" des- 
canting on these themes in a manner to show them- 
selves antichrist, according to the definition of that 
term by John. And even this need not surprise us; 
for the sure word of prophecy has foretold that some 
who have once held the true faith will depart there- 
from to give heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines 
of devils. 1 Tim. 4 : 1. 

One R. P. Wilson, to whose name is attached the 
ministerial title, in his lectui'es on ' ' Spiritual 
Science," said : — 

"Although as a believer in true spiritual philosophy, we 
cannot receive the orthodox views of salvation, yet we recog- 



WU.Vr Tllh: SIMKITS TEACH. 89 

ni/.i- tho birtli of a Saviour aiul Rodofmor into tlic universal 
hearts of liumanily, wherei/i trul// the diity is iiirdrnatc, dwt'll- 
iufr in tiie interior of man's spirit. We believe that each 
soul of man is l)orn with his or her Saviour within them; for 
as man is an emlxuliment of the universe in epitome, he con- 
tains in his central nature an incarnation of deity. The 
perm of immortal unfoldinjiS resides within the si)irit of it, 
which needs only appropriate conditions to call forth the ex- 
panding;' and ele\ating powers of tiie suul." 

Ill "Spiritual Scieiico Demonstrated," p. 229, 
Dr. llaro said : — • 

"Since my spirit sister's translation to the s])heres, she 
has risen from the fifth to tlie sixth spliere. It has been 
alleyed by her that her ascent was retarded by her belief in 
the atonement." 

A "spirit'" ealliiigiiiinself Deacon John Norton, 
as reported in the Ilanncv of Lujlit^ said : — 

"I used to believe in the atonement; T honestly believed 
that Christ dit'd to save the world, and that by and through 
his death all must be saved if saved at ail. Now I see that 
this is folly — it cannot be so. The liirht throuirh Christ, the 
Holy One, shone in darkness; the darl<ness could not compre- 
hend it; and thus it cnu-ified the btxly, and Christ died a 
martyr. lie was not called in that way, that by the shed- 
din<j of his blood, the vast multitude comin<r after him 
should fuid Salvation. Everything in nature proves this 
false. They tell me here that Christ was the most perfect 
man of his time. I am told here also that he is worthy to be 
worshiped, because of his goodness; and where man finds 
goodness he may worship. God's face is seen in the violet, 
and man may well worship this tiny flower." 

Tn the pantheism of S])iritualism, every object in 
nature, tlie tiny flower, tlie pebbles, the trees, the 
l)ir<ls and bees, are worthy to be worshi])ed as much 
as Christ. In one breath the spirits extol him as a 
most ])erfect man, pre-eminent in goodness and 



90 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

worthy to be worshiped, and in the next, place him 
in a position which would make him the greatest 
fraud and impostor that ever lived. Such incon- 
sistencies show that Christ is a miracle which evil 
men and evil angels know not how to dispose of. 
As they deny Christ, they must, logically, deny 
the doctrine of his second coming. This doctrine is 
made of especial importance and prominence in the 
New Testament. The nature of that coming, its 
manner, and the circumstances attending it are so 
fully described, that no one who adopts the Bible 
view can possibly be deceived by false christs. 
But the church and the world have been turned 
away from the true doctrine of the second advent, 
and thes way is thus prepared for the great deceptions 
of the last days. Spiritualism is one of these, and 
claims that it is itself that second coming, Joel 
Tiffany, a former celebrated teacher of Spiritualism, 
has said : — 

"I must look for the coming of my Lord in my own 
affection. He must come in tlie ck)Hds of my spiritual 
heavens, or he cannot come for any benefit to me." 

And through Mrs. Conant, a famous medium of 

the early days of Spiritualism, the controlling spirit 

said : — 

"This second coming of Christ means simpl}' the second 
coming of truths that are not themselves new, that have 
always existed. . . . He said, ' When I come again, I shall 
not be known to you.' Spiritualism is that second coming of 
Christ." — Banner of Light, Nor. IS, 1S65. 

But the Bible description of this event is, the 
revelation of the Lord himself in the clouds of 



"WHAT TIIK Pl'IKITS TEACH." !>! 

heaven in the ghiry of tlie Fatlier, the I'everberatinj^ 
shout of triumph, tlie voice of the archangel, tlio 
trump of (lod, the Hash of his presence like that of 
the lightniny:, the wailing of the tribes of the earth, 
as they thus behold him, while unj>rei)ared to mecl 
him, and the resurrection of the righteous dead. 
And where and when have these inseparable accom- 
paniments of that event been seen? They do nol 
occur when a ])erson is converted from sin, nor do 
they occur in the dying chamber, nor have they 
occurred in Spiritualism ; and until they do take 
place, the second coming of Christ is not ac- 
complished. 

Many seek to dispose of such testimony as this, 
by making it all figurative, or meeting it with a bold 
denial, as in the case of the resurrection of the body. 
And the way has been too well prepared for this 
condition of things, by much of the teaching of 
popular orthodoxy, which turns the early records of 
tlie Bible into childish allegory, perverts the true 
doctrine of the coming and kingdom of Christ, and 
denies the resurrection of the dead, by destroying 
its necessity through the immortality of the soul. 
On the vital point of the resurrection, Dr. Clarke 
makes this noteworthy remark: — 

"One remark I cannot, help making,— Tlie doctrine of the 
resuiTt'ction appears to liave been tiioufjht of much more 
consequence amonj? the primitive Christians than it is now ! 
How is tliis? — Tlie apostles were continually insisting on it. 
and exciting the followers of (Jod to diligence, obedience, and 
cheerfulness through it. And their successors in the present 
day seldom mention it! So th(^ apostles preached, and so the 
primitive Christians believed; so we preach and so our hearers 



92 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

believe. TliQre is not a doctrine in tlie gospel on which more 
stress is laid; and there is not a doctrine in the present system 
of preaching which is treated with more neglect." — 0)i 1 Cor- 

rintJiwns 15 {original edition).^ 

Ill view of the way the Bible has been treated by 
its professed friends, it is no wonder that infidelity 
prevails, and Spu-itualism prospers. 

3. They Deny the B!hle.~ThQ denial of God 
and Christ, as set forth above is, of course, a denial 
of the Bible; and not much need therefore be added 
on this point. We quote only a few representative 
utterances. Doctor Hare (" Spiritual Science Dem- 
onstrated," p. 209) says: — 

" The Old Testament does not impart a knowledge of 
immortality, without which religion were worthless. The 
notions derived from the gospels are vague, disgusting, inac- 
curate, and difficult to believe." 

As to the Old Testament, it would seem doubtful 
whether Mr. Hare ever read far enough to find (1) Job 
exclaiming : "For I know that my liedeemcr liveth, 
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 
and though after my skin worms destroy this body, 
yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for 
myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; 
though my reins be consumed within me" (or, as 
the margin reads : ' ' My reins within me are con- 
sumed with earnest desire [for that day];" or 
(2) David : "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with 

* The revision of Dr. Clarke's Commentary by Dr. Curry, proves 
the truthfulness of what the doctor here says, for this important 
passage is entirely eliminated, and its place filled with statements 
v/hich Dr. Clarke did not ri^ake, and sentiments which he did not 
believe. It is no less than a crime to treat a dead man's work in this 
luanner. 



WHAT TIIK sriHITS TEACH. > 93 

thy likeness : " or (;'>) Isaiali: ''Thy dead men shall 
live, too-etlui- with mv dead bodv shall thev arise. 
Awake and siiii;-, yo tliat dwell in the dust;"' or 
(4) Ezekiel : "■Behold, O my people, I will open 
vour graves, and cause you to come up out of your 
graves ; " or (.")) Daniel : "Many of them that sleep 
in the dust of tlie eartli shall awake, some to ever- 
lasting life, and some to sliatne and everlasting con- 
tempt; "' and (<)) Hosea : "I will ransom them from 
the ]»()wer of the grave, I will i-edeem them from 
death."' Job VJ : 25-27; Ps. 17 : IT); Isa. 20 : 19; 
E/x'. 87 : 12; Dan. 12 : 2; Hosea 18 : 14. And as 
for the New Testament, it is no doubt " disgusting " 
to many Spiritualists to 'read that " the fearful, and 
unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderei-s, 
and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and 
all liars, shall have their part in the lake which 
burnetii with tire and brimstone : which is the second 
death;"' and that without the city "are dogs, and 
sorcerers, and whoremongers, and nnu-derers, and 
idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."' 
Kev. 21 :s; 22: 15. 

C'Ommunications from spirits are otfered hi place 
of the Bible as a better source of instruction, the 
Bible being denounced, as above (pioteil, as " vagae, 
inaccurate, and difficult to believe." A brief com- 
parison of the two will furnish pertinent evidence on 
this ]M)int. Take, on the Bible side, for example, 
a portion of the record of creation (Gen. 1 : 1-5) : — 

"In llio bi'gimiing God crcutod tin- Ikmvoii aiul the earth. 
And the furth was wilhoul lorni, and void ; and darkness was 



94 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved 
upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be 
light : and there was light. And God saw the light, that it 
was good : and God divided the light from the darkness. 
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called 
Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." 

The facts stated in this record, the profoundest 
minds can never comprehend ; the language in wliich 
they are expressed, a little child can understand. 
The statements are plain and simple, a perfect model 
of perspicuous narrative. Place by the side of this 
an account of the same event, as given us from the 
"spheres." The spirits have undertaken to pro- 
duce a new Bible, beginning, like the old, with the 
creation; and this is the way it starts out, through 
the mediumship of "Rev." T. L. Harris: — ■ 

"1. In the beginning God, the Life in God, the Lord in 
God, the Holy Procedure, inhabited the dome, which, burn- 
ing in magnificence x)rimeval, and revolving in prismatic and 
undulatory spiral, appeared, and was the pavilion of the 
Spirit: In glory inexhaustible and inconceivable, in move- 
ment spherical, unfolded in harmonious procedure disclosive. 

' ' 2. And God said. Let good be manifest ! and good unfolded 
and moral-mental germs, ovariumsof heavens, descended from 
the Procedure. And the dome of disclosive magnificence 
was heaven, and the expanded glory beneath was the germ 
of creation. And the divine Procedure inbreathed upon the 
disclosure, and the disclosure became the universe." 

We will inflict no more of this ' ' undulatory 
spiral " nonsense on the reader. He now has both 
records before him, and can judge for himself which 
is the more worthy of his regard. There have been 
Spiritualists who, writing in their normal state, and 
not yet fully divorced from the influence of their 



NO DISTINCTION 15ETWKKN ItKiHT AND WRONCi. 95 

former education, liavo acknowledged the authen- 
ticity of the Bible, and the doctrines <»f Je.sus as 
recorded in the gonpels. But these, it is claimed, 
are to be understood according to a spiritual mean- 
ing which underlies the letter; and this spiritual 
meaning generally turns out t(^ be contrary to the 
letter, which is a virtual denial of the record itself. 
But the quotations here given ( only a specimen of 
the nndtitudes that might be presented ) are given on 
the authority of the " si^irits," whose teachings are 
what we wish to ascertain. 

THEY DENY ALL DISTINCTION BETWEEN RIGHT 
AND WRONG. 

There is implanted in the hearts (»f men by 
nature, a sense of right and a sense of wrong. Even 
those who know not God, nor C-hrist, nor the gospel, 
possess this power of discrimiiuition. This is what 
Baul, in Ifom. 2 : IT), calls "the work of the law 
written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing 
witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing 
or else excusing one another," That this distinction 
should now be denied by a class in a civilized com- 
munity, professing to be advanced thinkers and 
teachers, among whom are found the learned, the 
refined, and the professedly pious, shows that we 
have fallen upon strange times. To be sure, many 
of them talk Hucntly of the beauty and perfection 
of divine laws; ])ut in the sense in which they would 
have them understood, they rob them of all charac- 
teristics of law. The first great essential of law is 



96 Modern spiRiTtJALisM. 

authority; but this they takeaway from it; the next 
is penalty for its violation; but this they deny, and 
thus degrade the law to a mere piece of advice. 
The "Healing of the Nations," an authoritative 
work among Spiritualists, pp. 163, 16i, says: — 

" Thus thy body needs no laws, having been in its crea- 
tion supplied Willi all that could be necessary for its govern- 
ment. Thj^ spirit is above all laws, and above all essences 
which flow therein. God created thy spirit from within his 
own, and surely the Creator of law is above it ; the creator of 
essences must be above all essence created. And if thou hast 
what may be or might be termed laws, they are always sub- 
servient to thy spirit Good men need no laws, and laws will 
do bad or ignorant men no good. If a man be above law, he 
should never be governed by it. If he be below, what good 
can dead, dry words do him? 

"True knowledge removeth all laws from power by plac- 
ing the spirit of man above it." 

A correspondent of the Telegraph said of this 
work, " The Healing of the Nations : " ■ — - 

"According to its teaching, no place is found in the uni- 
verse for divine wrath and vengeance. All are alike and for- 
ever the object of God's love, pity, and tender care — ■ the dif- 
ference between the two extremes of human character on earth, 
being as a mere atom when compared with perfect wisdom." 

This is a favorite comparison with them, — that 
the difference between God and the best of men is 
GO much greater than the extremes of character 
among men, — the most upright and the most wicked, 
- — that the latter is a mere atom, and not accounted 
of in God's sight. That there is aninfinite difference 
between God and the best of men, is all true; for 
God is infinite in all his attributes, and man is very 
imperfect at the best. But to argue from this that 



NO DISTINCTION 15KTWEEN RIGHT AND AVKONlJ. f»7 

God is inferior to man, so tluit lio cannot discern 
difference in character liere, even as man can plainly 
discern it, seems but mad-house reasoning. What 
would we think of the man mIio had the same regard 
for the thief as for the lionest man, for the mur- 
derer as for the philanthroj»ist ? To ignore such 
distinctions as even men are able to discern would 

destroy the stability of all human govci-nments; 

what then would be the effect on the divine govern- 
ment ? God has given his hiw — holy, just, and 
good — to men, and commanded obedience. He 
has attached the penalty to disobedience: "The soul 
that sinrietli, it shall die," "The wages of sin is 
death/' Eze. IS : 20"; Kom. 6:2:5. And in the 
judgment, the distinction God makes in character 
will be plainly declared; for he will set the righteous 
on his right liand, but the wicked on the left. Matt. 

This view of the failure of law, and the absence 
of all human accountability, naturally leads to a bold 
denial of sin and the existence of crime. The 
"Healing of the Nations,"' ]). 1<)U, says: "Unto 
God there is no error; all is comparatively good. " 
The same work says that God views error as "un- 
developed good." A. J. Davis ( "Nature of Divine 
Revelation,'' p. 521) says: "Sin, indeed, in the 
common acceptation of that term, does not really 
exist.'' 

A discom-se from J. S. Loveland, once a min- 
ister, reported in the Ji<i inter <>/ L!<f/if, contained 
this paragi-ajih : — 
7 



98 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

"With God there is no crime; with man tliere is. Crime 
does not displease God, but it does man. God is in tlie dark- 
est crime, as in tlie higliest possible holiness. He is equally 
pleased in either case. Both harmcjnize equally with his 
attributes — they are only different sides of the same Deity." 

In "Automatic Writing" (1896), p. 139, a ques- 
tion was asked concerning evil, meaning sin and 
crimes among men. The spirit answered that these 
were conditions of progress, and were so necessary 
to elevation that they were to be welcomed, not 
hated. The questions and answers are as fol- 
lows : — 

" Ques. — Can you give us any information in regard to 
the so-called Uevil — once so firmly believed in? • 

" Ans. — Devil is a word used to conjure with. 

"Q, — Well, then, as the word itself doubtless arose from 
the word "evil," which means to us unhappiness, can you 
give us an explanation of the existence of evil? 

"^1. — Evil — as you who are the greatest sufferers from 
it, name one of the conditions of progress — is as necessary, 
aye, more so, than what you call good, to your and our eleva- 
tion to higher spheres. It is not to be hated, but welcomed. 
It is the winnowing of the grain from the chaff. Children of 
truth, don't worry over what to you seems evil; soon you will 
be of us and will understand, and be rejoiced that what you 
call evil persists and works as leaven in the great work of 
mind versus matter. 

" ^. — But it seems to us impossible that brutal crimes 
like murder, assassinations, or great catastrophes, by which 
the innocent are made to suffer at the hands of malicious and 
cruel persons, should work for ultimate good? 

"A. — Percipients of the grand whole of Being can un- 
derstand but may not state to those on your plane, the under- 
lying good making itself asserted even through such dreadful 
manifestations of human imperfections as the crimes you 
name. 

"When asked why certain wrongs were allowed to be 
perpetuated,, this answer was given: — 



KO r)IsriN( rioN IJK'rWEEN KIGHT AND WKONCi. 1)1) 

"ThcTO is a law of psychical cssfiice wiiich makes nec- 
essary all these ephemeral entanglements which lo you seem 
so severe, anil you will yet sec I'rom your own standpoint of 
reason wlij' such hardsliips must bo endured by (luest-ioninj,'^ 
souls on the hijihway of pnij^ress. 

" ^^>. — Hut i\o }ou from your vantage ground of larger 
knowledge grow careless tiiat such injustice is done? 

" .1. — AVe do care, but cannot remedy. 

" Q. — Why cant you remedy? 

".1. — Bi'cause humanity is i)ut an embryo of existence. 

" Q. — If you can perceive the trials and sorrows of mor- 
tals, and can interfere to save them, why do you not more 
often do so? 

".I. — When undeveloped souls pay the price of di'vejop- 
ment, we staml aloof, and lit tin- play go t)n. Interference 
will do no good." 

Ill view of such a coiifossioii, what becomes of 
the many chiims put foi'th l)y other spirits that they 
are ever hovering near their friends to assist and 
guard them, to help and inspire them, and keep 
them from evil and (hmger 'i These say that those 
terrible crimes (and this would include all crimes) 
are all necessary, that they are tending to deveh){) 
souls, and bring them to higher Sj>heres, and thus 
are just as laii(la])le as good actions ; so they settle 
back in a gleefid mood, and " let the play go on : " 
let wicked men cidtivate and develop and practice 
their evil propensities and the innocent sutfer. Well 
may men pray to be delivered from such a spirit 
assembly as that. 

In "Healing of the Nations," }>. -lo2. Dr. Hare 
says : — 

"That anything shonid, even for an instant, be contrary 
to his will, is inconsisleiit with iiis fori'sighl and ornnipo- 



100 MODERN SPiRITUALiSM. 

tency. It would be a miracle that anything counter to his 
will should exist." 

A lecture on the ' ' Philosophy of Reform, ' ' given 
by A. J. Davis, in New York Citv, bears testimony 
to the same effect ; — 

"In the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, it is affirmed 
that sin is the transgression of the law. But by an exami- 
nation of nature, the true and only Bible, it will be seen that 
this statement is erroneous. It gives a wrong idea of both 
man and law. ... It will be found impossible for man to 
transgress a law of God." 

Thus they very illogically assume that if God 
has the will or the power to prevent evil, it could not 
exist, and therefore, if there is such a God, he is re- 
sponsible, forgetting that God is long-suffering, and 
bears long with vessels of wrath fitted for destruc- 
tion, before they pass beyond the limits of his mercy 
and perish. But Mr. Davis says further : — ■■ 

"Reformers need to understand that war is as natural to 
one stage of human development as peace is natural to an- 
other. My brother has the spirit of revenge. Shall I call 
him a demon ? Is not his spirit natural to his condition ? 
War is not evil or repulsive except to a man of peace. Who 
made the non-resistant? Polygamy is as natural to one stage 
of development as oranges are natural to the South. Shall I 
grow indignant, and because I am a monogamist, condemn 
my kinsman of yore? Who made him? Who made me? 
We both came up under the confluence of social and political 
circumstances; and we both represent our conditions and our 
teachers. The doctrine of blame and praise is natural only 
to an unphilosophical condition of mind. The spirit of com- 
plaint — of attributing ' evil ' to this and that plane of society 
— is natural; but is natural only to undeveloped minds. It is 
a profanation — a sort of atheism of which I would not be 
guilty." 



NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG. 101 

Tlio J>ible savs, ''Woe unto tlicni tliat call evil 
^ood, and ^ood evil; that ])iit darkness for light and 
liirlit for darkness." Isa. .5:20. And it makes 
another declaration which finds abundant confirma- 
tion in the s(Mitinients quoted above : " ]3ecause sen- 
tence against an evil work is not executed speedily, 
therefore the heart of the s(nis of men is fully set 
in them to do evil." Eccl. S:ll. 

Having thus attempted to destroy in the minds 
of men all distinction between good and evil, all 
being alike in God's sight, and all ecpially good, they 
try to make the -way a little broader and easier for 
men to give full rei;i to all the propensities and 
inclinations of an evil heart, by teaching that there 
is no Lawgiver and Judge before whom men must 
apj)ear to gi\e an acconut of their deeds, but that 
they are responsible to themselves alone, and must 
give account only to their own natures. Thus Hon. 
J. 13. Hall, in a lecture reported in the Bi inner of 
Lights Feb. 0, 1864, said : — 

"I believe (liat man is amenable In no law iioti written 
upon liis own nature, no matter by whom given. . . . Hy his 
own nature lie must be tried — by his own acts he must stand 
or fall. True, man must give an account to (}od for all his 
tleeds ; but how? — Solely by giving account to his own nature 
— to himself." 

At a stance reported in the Banner of LUjld^ 
May 2S, 18()4r, the following (juestion was proposed, 
and the answer was by the communicating spirit : — 

" QucH. — To whom or to what is the soul accountable? 
".•1//.V. — To no Deity outsiiie the ri-alm of its own being, 
Certaiiii\ ; to no Uod which is a creation of fancy; to no 



102 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

Deity who dwells in a far-off heaven, and sits upon a white 
throne; to no Jesus of Nazareth; to no patron saint; to no 
personality; to no principle outside our own individual 
selves." 

The "Healing of the Nations," p. 74, says : — 
"Man is his own saviour, his own redeemer. He is his 
own judge — in his own scales weighed." 

A little over twenty years after the birth of 
Spiritualism, Aug. 25, 1868, the Fifth National 
Convention of Spiritualists was held in Corinthian 
hall, Kochester, N. Y., at which a formal "Declara- 
tion of Principles ' ' was set forth. From the seventh 
and eighth paragraphs, under principle 20, we quote 
the following : — 

" Seventh, To stimulate the mind to the largest investiga- 
tion . . . that we may be qualified to judge for ourselves what 
is right and true. Mgfdh, To deliver from all bondage to 
autlwrity, whether vested in creed, book, or church, except that 
of received truth." 

This is the same principle of man's responsibility 
to no one but himself, authoritatively adopted. 
What a picture have we now before us ! Destroy 
man's belief in, and reverence for, God and Chi'ist, 
as they do; lead him to ridicule the atonement, the 
only remedy for sin ; make him disbelieve the Bible; 
take away from his mind all distinction between right 
and wrong, and assure him that he is accountable 
to no one but himself; and how better could one 
prepare the way to turn men into demons. All this 
the spirits, by their teaching, seek to do. And can 
any one fail to foresee the result? Comparatively 
a small proportion of the inhabitants of this country 



NO DISTlNOTiON liKTWKKN KUiUT AN'I) WRONG. 103 

liave coininittod tlioinsclvos to these vi(nvs; con- 
sequently but little of the legitimate fruit as yet 
appeai-s; but take human nature as it is and suppose 
all the inhabitants of this land to act on these prin- 
ciples, and then what would we have? — A pande- 
monium, a scene of anarcliy, riot, bloodshed, and 
all do])tli8 of rottenness and corruption — in short, 
a hell so much worse than that to which the Devil 
is popularly assigned, tluit he would at once change 
his location and here take up his abode. 

That this statement is none too strong, will ap- 
pear as we look a moment at some of the results 
which have already developed themselves among the 
friends of such views, and as their inevital)le fruit. 
The tendency can by no possibility be otherwise than 
to atheism, and all immorality. As lias been already 
remarked, the repulsive features were made much 
more prominent in the early stages of Spiritualism 
than at the present time. They are now held in the 
background. The literature touching these points 
has been remodeled, and an air of resj)ectability and 
religion assumed. Most of the quotations thcrefoi-o 
date some years back, and would be charitably with- 
held were there any evidence of reform either pres- 
ent or prospective. But where or wlien have these 
principles ever been officially repudiated, and evi- 
dence given that the conseipient practices had been 
abandoned? That there are many Spiritualists of 
upright ajid moral lives, and honorable members of 
society, in the best sense of that term, we gladly 
believe; but is not this because thoy are living above 



104 MODERN SPIRITUALISM, 

their principles; and due, not to the influence, but 
rather to the non-influence of real Spiritualism upon 
their lives ? The quotations given are from those 
who have been prominent among Spiritualists as 
authors and speakers. If they overdraw the picture, 
the responsibility is with them. Dr. B. P. Ran- 
dolph, author of a work "Dealings with the Dead," 
was eight years a medium, then renounced Spir- 
itualism long enough to expose its character, then 
returned to it again, unable to break entirely away 
from the spell it has fastened upon him. He gives 
his opinion of it in the following scathing words: — 

"I enter the arena as the champion of common sense, 
against what in my soul I believe to be the most tremendous 
enemj' of God, morals, ^d religion, that ever found foothold 
on the earth ; — the most seductive, hence the most dangerous, 
form of sensualism that ever cursed a nation, age, or people. 
I was a medium about eight years, during which time I made 
three thousand speeches, and traveled over several different 
countries, proclaiming its new gospel. I now regret that so 
much excellent breath was wasted, and that my health of 
mind and body was well nigh ruined. I have onh' begun 
to regain both since I totally abandoned it, and to-day had 
rather see the cholera in my house, than be a spiritual 
medium. 

"As a trance speaker, I became widely known ; and now 
aver that during the entire eight j'ears of my mediumship, I 
firmly and sacredly confess that I had not the control of my 
own mind, as I now have, one twentieth of the time; and 
before man and high heaven I most solemnly declare that I 
do not now believe that during the whole eight years, I was 
sane for thirty-six consecutive hours, in consequence of the 
trance and the susceptibility thereto. 

" For seven years I held daily intercourse with what pur- 
ported to be my mother's spirit. I am now fully persuaded 
that it was nothing but an evil spirit, an infernal demon. 



NO DISTINCTION liETWEEN KIUIIT ANI) WKONO. 105 

who, in that iruisH, <jfaim'tl my soul's confidenct'. jiiid led me 
to tiic very brink of ruin. \\'(' road in Scripture of demoniac 
possession, as well as abnormal si)iritual action. IJolh lads 
e.xist. provable to-day; I am positive the f(»rmer does. A. ,1 
Davis and his cliipie (»f Harmonialists say there are no evil 
spirits. I emphatically deny the statement. Five of my 
friends destroyed them.selvt'S, and I attempted it, by direct 
spiritual inlluences. Every crime in the calendar has been 
committed by mortal movers of viewless bein<;s. Adultery, 
fornication, suicides, desertions, unjust divorces, prostitu- 
tion, abort i(m, insanity, are not evils, I supi)Ose. I cliarye 
all these to this scientific Spiritualism. It has also brolcen 
up families, S([uandered fortunes, tempted and destroyed 
the weak. It has biinished ])eace from happy families, 
separated husbands and wives, and shatlert-d the intellect 
of thousands." 

Tlie following is aii extract from the writings of 
J. F. Whitney, editor of the New York Pufhtiudcr. 
His view of the subject accords with that of Dr. 
Kaiulolpli: — 

" Now, after a long and constant watchfulness, seeing for 
months and for years its projjress and its practical workings 
upon its devotees, its believers, and its mediums, we are com- 
pelled to speak our honest conviction, which is, that the mani- 
festations coining through the acknowledged mediums, who 
are designated as rapping, tipping, writing, and entranced 
mediums, have a baneful inHuence upon belit>vers, and create 
disc(trd and confusion; that the generality of these teachings 
inculcate false ideas, approve of sellish individual acts, and 
endorse theories and principles, which, Avhen carried out. 
debase and make men little better than the brute. These are 
among the fruits of Modern Spiritualism, and we do not hesi- 
tate to say that we believe if these manifestations are contin- 
ued to be received, and to be as little understood as they are. 
and have been since they made tlieir appearance at Roches- 
ter, and mortals are to be deceived by their false, fascinating, 
and snakelike charming powers, which go with them, the 
day will come when the world will recpiire the appearance of 



106 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

another Saviour to redeem the world from its departing from 
Christ's warnings. . . . Seeing, as we have, the gradual 
progress it makes with its believers, particularly its mediums, 
from lives of morality to those of sensuality and immoral- 
ity, gradually and cautiously undermining the foundation of 
good principles, we look back with amazement to the radical 
change which a few months will bring about in individuals; 
for its tendency is to approve and endorse each individual act 
and character, however good or bad these acts may be. . . . 
"We desire to send forth our warning voice, and if our 
humble position as the head of a public journal, oiir known 
advocacy of Spiritualism, our experience, and the conspicu- 
ous part we have played among its believers, the honesty and 
the fearlessness with which we have defended the subject, 
will weigh anything in our favor, we desire that our opinions 
may be received, and those who are moving passively down 
the rushing- rajiids to destruction should pause, ere it be too 
late, and save themselves from the blasting influence which 
those manifestations are causing." 

Every one .who knows anything about Spu'itualism 
has heard of Cora Platch, who traveled extensively, 
and manifested her powers as an extemporaneous 
lecturer before astonished multitudes. One of her 
husbands, Dr. Hatch, renounced Spiritualism, and 
the following is from the testimony he bore concern- 
ing it : — 

"The most damning iniquities are everywhere perpe- 
trated in spiritual circles, a verj' small percentage of which 
ever comes to public attention. I care not whether it be spi- 
ritual or mundane, the facts exist, and should demand the 
attention and condemnation of an intelligent com m unit}'. 
. . . The abrogation of marriage, bigamy, accompanied bj' 
robbery, theft, rape, are all chargeable upon Spiritualism. 
1 most solemnly affirm that I do not believe that there has, 
during the last five hundred years, arisen any people who are 
guilty of so great a variet.y of crimes and indecencies as the 
Spiritualists of America. 



NO I)ISTIN(TK>N HETWKEN KKJIIT AND WR(>N(;. |0( 

" For a lonir tinn- I was swallowed u|) in ils wliirl])0()l ol 
excitenii'iil, and comparalivcly i)aid but Utile alti-iition to 
its evils, bclieviiij,' that much <;-ood mijJiht result from the 
opening' of the aveiuies of Spiritual intercourse. Hut during 
the past eight months I have devoted my attention to critical 
investigation of its moral, social, and religious bearing, and I 
stand appalh'd before the revelations of its awful and damn- 
ing realities." 

Much testimony of this nature iiiii;ht 1)^' fi,-iven 
from those who have liad similar experiences and 
ecjually favorable facilities for judging of the cliar- 
acter of Spiritmilism. We present only a fevv^ ex- 
tracts more. 

Dr. Wm. B. Potter of New York, in an article 
under the liead of "Astounding Facts,"* and also in 
a tract entitled, " Sj)iritualisni as It Is," gives the 
result of liis experience and observations. His tes- 
timony is the more valuahle, since lie writes n(»t 
from tlie stand})oint of one who has renouiu'ed Spir- 
itualism, whose feelings may for the time be over- 
wrought, and liis language stronger than would be 
used in calmer moments. When he wrote, he was 
still an advocate of S})iritualism, and spoke as a friend 
who would, if possible, induce S])iritualists to reform 
tlieir faith and tlnur manner of living. He says : — 

" Fifteen years of critical study of Spiritual literature, an 
extensive ac4uaintauce with the leading Spiritualists, aiul a 
patient, systematic, and thorough examination of th(> mani- 
festations for many years, enable us to speak from actual 
knowledge, definitely and positively, of 'Spiritualism as It 
Is.' Si)iritual literature is full of the most insidioi\s and 
seductive doctrines, calculated to undermine the very foun- 
dations of morality and virtue, and lead to the most un- 
bridled licentiousness. 



108 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

"We are told that 'we must have charity,' that it is 
wrong to blame any one, that we must not expose iniquity, 
as 'it will harden the guilty,' that ' none should be punished,' 
that 'man is a machine, and not to blame for his conduct,' 
that ' there is no high, no low, no good, no bad,' that ' sin is a 
lesser degree of righteousness,' that 'nothing we can do can 
injure the soul or retard its progress,' that ' those who act the 
worst will progress the fastest,' that 'lying is right, slavery is 
right, murder is right, adultery is right,' that 'whatever is, 
is right.' 

"Hardly can you find a Spiritualist book, paper, lecture, 
or communication that does not contain some of these per- 
nicious doctrines ; in disguise, if not openly. Hundreds of 
families have been broken up, and many affectionate wives 
deserted by ' affinity-seeking ' husbands. Many once devoted 
wives have been seduced, and left their husbands and tender, 
helpless children, to follow some 'higher attraction.' Manj' 
well-disposed but simple-minded girls have been deluded 
by 'affinity' notions, and led off by ' affinity hunters,' to be 
deserted in a few months, with blasted reputations, or led 
to deeds still more dark and criminal, to hide their shame." 

The same writer also mentions a fact which shows 
where tlie responsibility of all this looseness of morals 
belongs. He says : — - 

*' At the National Spiritual Convention at Chicago, called 
to consider the question of a national organization, the onlj'^ 
plan approved by the committee, especially provided that no 
charge should ever be entertained against any member, and 
that any person, without any regard to his or her moral char- 
acter, might become a member." 

The fact that no plan could find approval which 
did not provide that they should never be blamed 
nor called to account for any of their deeds, shows 
on what points they felt the most anxious, and 
plainly proves that they belong to the class of which 
Christ spoke, who loved darkness rather than light, 



NO DISTINCTION UKTWKKN KKiHT AM> WRONO. 101) 

and who would not come to tlui light h'st tlicir deeds 
shouhl l)e reproved. John 3 : 1!) 21. 

It is unpleasant to wade through pools of lilth, 
and we therefore spare the reader quotations from 
those Si)iritiialists who luive not only avowed the 
most revolting practices of free lovc^, but openly 
advocated the same, and endeavored to induce others 
to come out likewise, on the gr(nind that they were 
only honestly and publicly admitting what the others 
believed and practiced in secret. For the same 
reason wo ])ass by the notorious Woodhull and 
Clatlin, and Hull and Jamieson e])isodes, in this field, 
which, in the illustration and language of another, 
''burst ujton the country like a rotten egg three 
thousand miles iii diameter I '' 

It may be said that these things are in the past 
and the situation has now gi-eatly changed. For the 
benefit of those who thus Hatter themselves we intro- 
duce one more ouotation. It is from ''The J^aw of 
Psychic Phenomena," by T. J. Hudson (A. C. 
McClurgife Co., Chicago, 1S1»4). The language is 
candid and conciliatory, and the author cannot be 
accused of any undue prejudice on the question of 
which he S]>eaks. On page ''V.]!y, he says: — 

"I do not elijir<r<' Spiritualists as a class with being advo- 
catt'S of the doctrines of fnte love. On tlie contrary, I am 
aware that, as a class, they hold the marriage relation in sa- 
cred regard. I cannot forget, however, that but a few years 
ago some of their leading advocates and mediums proclaimed 
the doctrine of free love in all its hideous deformity from 
every platform in the land. Nor do I fail to remember that 
the belter class of Spiritualists everywhere repudiated tlie 



lio 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 



doctrine, and denounced its advocates and exemplars. Never- 
theless the moral virus took effect here and there all over the 
country, and it is doing its deadly work in secret in many an 
otherwise happy home. And / charge a large and constantly 
growing class of professional mediums with being the leading 
jjropngandists of the doctrine of free love. They infest every 
community in the land, and it is well known to all men and 
women who are dissatisfied or unhappy in their marriage 
relations, that they can always find sympathy by consulting 
the average medium, and can, moreover, find justification for 
illicit love by invoking the spirits of the dead through such 
mediums." 

Wo have italicized that passage in the foregoing 
which shows that the deadly evil is still working in 
secret, and that a large and constantly growing 
number of professionals are aiding and abetting the 
iniquity. 

DANGERS OF MEDIUHSHIP. 

A few testimonies will show that when one gives 
himself or herself up to the control of the spirits, 
such ones take a most perilous position. The spirits 
insist on their victims becoming passive, ceasing to 
resist, and yielding their whole wills to them. Some 
of their persuasive words are these : " Come in con- 
fidence to us; " "Let our teachings deeply impress 
you ; " " You must not doubt what we say ; ' ' 
" Learn of us; " " Obey our directions and you will 
be benefited; " " Seek to obtain knowledge of us; " 
"Have faith in us; " " Fear not to obey; " " Obey 
us and you will be greatly blessed; " etc., etc. 
Mesmerists operate in the same way. They gain 
control of their subjects in the same way that the 
spirits mesmerize their mediums, and when under 



danctEks ok MKDICMSHII'. 1 1 1 

tlic'ir cdiiti-ol, the spii-its cause tlu-in to see whatever 
ihev hriiii:; hefore iheiii, uiid licar aeconJiiit^ to their 
wills, aiul do as they hitl. And the tliiii<;s tliev sii|)- 
pose tiiey s;-e and hciiv, und what they arc; to do, are 
only such things as exist in the mind of the mesmer- 
izing power. The suhject is coiuj)letely at the; mercy 
of the invisihlo agency; and to put one's self there 
is a most heaven-daring and hazardous act. Mr. 
Hudson c^Law of Tsychic Phenomena,'' j). '-V-'S) 
says : — 

'•To thr y(iun<i- whosi' chanictors arc not formed, and to 
those wliosc notions of morality arc loose, the dan2:i'rs of 
m^'sliuMisliip .•ire njijinl/iin/." 

T> furthei- giiu tlie confidence of mortals, the 
s]>i;'i;,4 clai.u to ])0 the ones who answer their 
])rayers. In ''Automatic Writing," }>. 142, we 
h.ive this : — 

" Qiii'x. — Will our friends tell us whether from I heir iioiiit 
of view, there is any real ellicacy in prayer '! 

"Ann. [by spirits]. — Shall not 'a soul's sincere desire' 
arouse in discarnate and free- spirits effort to malic that sin- 
c^-re desire a reality ? What ,n'ood can come from asi)irations 
on mortal i)lanes, save li\roui;li tlie efforts to make those 
aspirations realized on spiritual i)lanes, by the will of freed 
spirits ? " 

Mediums are unal)le to resist the ])owers of the 

unseen world wheu onco under their control. 

Professor Prittan ( " Telegraphic Answer to Mahan," 

p. 1(.>), concerning mediun.iship, says : — 

"We may furtlu-r add in this connection that tin- trance 
mediums for spirit intercourse arc equally irresponsible. 
Many of tlu-m are totally unable to resist the powers which 
come to thein fnuii the in\ isibii' and unknown realms." 



11^ MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

Dr. Kandolph ("Dealings with the Dead," 
p. 150) shows the dangers of mediumship, as fol- 
lows : — 

"I saw that one great cause of the moral looseness of 
thousands of sensitive-nerved people on earth, resulted from 
the infernal possessions and obsessions of their persons by 
delegations from those realms of darkness and (to all but 
themselves) unmitigated horror. A sensitive man or woman 
— no matter how virtuously inclined — may, unless by con- 
stant prayer and watchfulness they prevent it and keep the 
will active and the sphere entire, be led into the most 
abominable practices and habits." 

This same writer, in the same work, pp. 108, 
109, says : — 

" Those ill-meaning ones who live just beyond the thresh- 
old, often obtain their ends by subtly infusing a semi-sense 
of volitional power into the minds of their intended victims, 
so that at last they come to believe themselves to be self-act- 
ing, when in fact they are the merest shuttlecocks bandied 
about between the battledores of knavish devils on one side, 
and devilish knaves upon the other, and between the two the 
poor fallen wretches are nearly heart-reft and destroyed." 

A work by A. J. Davis called "The Diakka, and 
their Earthly Yictims," mentions the natm-e of these 
denizens of the spirit world, and their wonderful 
location. The country (to speak after the manner 
of men) which they inhabit, is so large that it would 
require not less than 1,803,026 diameters of the 
earth to span its longitudinal extent. This he had 
from a spirit he calls James Victor Wilson, a 
profound mathematician ! This space is occupied 
by spirits who have passed from earth, who are 
"morally deficient, and affectionally unclean." — 



DANGERS oF xMEDJUMSllIJ'. H'^ 

Ptiijc 7. The same spirit, Wilson, describes the 
diakka as those ''who take insane delight in playing 
parts, in juggling tricks, in personathig opposite 
characters to whom j)ra_vers and profane utterances 
are of equi-value; surcharged with a passion for lyr- 
ical narrations; one whose every attitude is insthict 
with the schemes of specious reasoning, sophistry, 
pride, pleasure, wit, subtle convivialities; a bound- 
less disbeliever, one who thinks that all private life 

will end in the all-consuming self-love of God." 

J^a(/, hi. On page 18 he says further of them, that 
they are "never resting, never satisfied with life, 
often amusing themselves with jugglery and tricky 
witticisms, invariably- victimizing others; secretly 
tormenting mediums, causing them to exaggerate in 
speech, and to falsify in acts; unlocking and unbolt- 
ing the street doors of your bosom and memory; 
pointing your feet into wrong paths, and far more." 

What this "far more" is, we are left to con- 
jecture. The advertisement of this book says that 
it is "an explanation of much that is false and 
repulsive in S}>iritualism." AV\ F. Jamieson, in a 
Spiritualist paper, called these diakka "a trooj) 
of devils," and quoted ffudge Carter as saying: 
"There is one thing clear, that these diakka, or 
fantastic or mixed spirits, are very numerous and 
abundant, and take any and every opportunity of 
obtruding themselves." 

Hudson Tuttle, author of " Life in Two Spheres," 
and other S])iritualistic works, speaks of "a com- 
munication, through a noted medium, to Gerald 
« 



114 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

Massey from his 'dog Pip,' the said Pip 'licking 
the slate and writing witli a good degree of intelli- 
gence.' " He adds, "Mr. Davis would say that 
' Pip ' was a ' diakka, ' and to-morrow he will com- 
municate as George Washington, Theodore Parker, 
or Balaam's ass. This diakka is flesh, fish, or fowl, 
as you may desire." 

Some idea of how the spirits sometimes torment 
the mediums, as hinted at above, may be gained 
from the following instance. In ' ' Astounding Facts 
from the Spirit World," pp. 253, 254, Dr. Gridley 
describes the case of a medium sixty years of age, 
living near him in Southampton, Mass. The suffer- 
ings inflicted upon him ' ' in two months at the hands 
of evil spirits would fill a volume of five hundred 
pages." Of these sufferings, the following are 
specimens : — 

" They forbade his eating, to tlie very point of starvation. 
He was a perfect sls;eleton ; they compelled him to walk day 
and night, with intermissions, to be sure, as their avowed 
object was to torment him as much and as long as possible. 
They swore by everything sacred and profane, that they 
would knock his brains out, always accompanying their 
threats with blows on the forehead or temples, like that of a 
mallet in the hands of a powerful man, with this difference, 
however; the latter would have made him unconscious, while 
in full consciousness he now endured the indescribable agony 
of those heavy and oft-repeated bloAvs; they declared they 
would skin him alive; that he must go to New York and be 
dissected by inches, all of which he fully believed. They 
declared that they would bore holes into his brain, when he 
instantly felt the action suited to the word, as though a dozen 
augers were being turned at once into his very skull; this 
done, they would fill his brain with bugs and worms to eat it 
out, when their gnawing would instantly commence. . . . 




^ 



s 




1)AN(;EKS of MEDIUMSHIP. 115 

Thivsf spirits would i)iiifli and pound him, twitch him up 
and throw him down, ydl and bhisi)lit'mi', and us<' the most 
oltsccnL' lanjriia^iv tlial mortals can conceive; they would 
deciarc tiiat they wt-ic Christ in one breath, and devils in the 
next: they woukl tw. him head to foot for a long time together 
in a most excruciating posture; declare they would wring 
iiis neck off because he doubted or refused obedience." 

Wlio can doubt that such spirits are the angels of 
the evil one himself^ Dr. Gridlev in the same work, 
jt. lit, gives the experience of another inediuni, for 
the truthfulness of which he offers the fullest 
proof : — 

"We liave seen the meiliiim evidently possessed by 
Irishmen and Dutchmen of the h.vvest grade — JieartI him 
repeat Joshua's drunken prayers [Joshua was a strong but 
brutish man he had known in life], exactly like the original, 
— imitate his drunkenness in word and deed — try to repeat, 
or rather act over his most brutal deeds (from which for 
decency's sake, he was instantly restrained by extraordinary 
exertion and severe rebuke) — snap and grate his teeth most 
furiously, strike and swear, while his eyes flashed like the 
fires of an orthodox perdition. We have heard him hkss. and 
seen him writhe his body like the serpent when crawling, 
and dart out his tongue, and play it exactly li-ke that reptile. 
These exhibitions were intermingled with the most wrangling 
and horrible convulsions." 

These descriptions, it would seem, ought to be 
enough to strike terror to any heart at the thought 
of being a medium. But there is yet another phase 
(»f the subject that shotild not be passed by. These 
fallen spirits who are engineering the work of 8})iri- 
tualism, to nuiintain their ''assumed characters," and 
" play their parts " like the aforesaid diakka, represent 
that disembodied spirits "just over the threshold," 
still retain the characteristics they bore in life, such 



110 MODERN SPmiTUALlSM. 

as a disposition to sensuality and licentiousness, love 
of rum, tobacco, and other vices, and that they can, 
by causing the -medium to plunge excessively into 
these things, thereby still gratify their own propen- 
sities to indulge in them. The following sketch by 
Hudson Tuttle, a very popular author among Spiri- 
tualists, is somewhat lengthy, but the idea could not 
better be presented than by giving it entire. In 
"Life in Two Spheres," pp. 35-37, he says: — 

"Reader, have you ever entered the respectable saloon? 
Have you ever watched the stupid stare of the inebriate when 
the eye grew less and less lustrous, slowly closing, the muscles 
relaxing, and the victim of appetite sinking over on the floor 
in beastlj' drunkenness? Oh, how dense the fumes of mingled 
tobacco and alcohol ! Oh, what misery confined in those 
walls ! If you have witnessed such scenes, then we need 
describe no further. If you have not, then you had not 
better hear the tale of woe. Imagine to yourselves a bar- 
room with all its sots, and their number multiplii^d indefi- 
nitely, while conscience-seared and bloated fiends stand 
behind the bar, from whence they deal out death and dam- 
nation, and the picture is complete. One has junt arrived 
from earth. He is yet uninitiated in the mysteries and mis- 
eries of those which, like hungry lions, await him. He died 
while intoxicated — was frozen while lying m the gutter, and 
consequently is attracted toward this society. He possessed 
a good intellect, but it was shattered beyond repair by his 
debauches. 

"'Ye ar' a fresh one, aint ye?' coarsely queried a sot, 
just then particularly communicative. 

" 'Why, yes, I have just died, as they call it, and 'taint 
so bad a change after all; only I suppose there 'U be dry times 
here for the want of something stimulant.' 

" 'Not so dry; lots of that all the time, and jolly times too.' 

" ' Drink ! Can you drink, then? ' 

" 'Yes, we just can, and feel as nice as you please. But 
all can't, not unless they find one on earth just like them. 



DANOKRS OK MEDTUMSITIP. 117 

You gro to oarth, and mix with your chums; and wln-n you 
find oni- whose liiouglils you can read, he 's your man. Form 
a connection with him, and wImii lie ^-ets lu I'ecliiii^' f/ooil, 
you Ml feel so too. — Tliero, do you understmid nie? 1 always 
"tell all fresh ones the fi;!()rious news, lor iiow they-wouid sull'er 
if it was n't for this hlessed thing.' 

" ' I '11 try, no mistake.' 

" ' Here 's a covey,' spoke an ulcerous-looking heing; he 's 
of (»ur stripe. Tim, did you hear what an infernal .scrape 1 
g(tt into l.isl nigiit"? No, you didn't. Well, I went to our 
friend Fred's: lie didn't want to drink when I found him; 
his dimes looked so e.xtremtdy large. AVell, 1 drxtrot/td tlmt 
ffdinff, and made him think he was dry. He draid<, and 
drank, more than 1 wanted him to, until 1 was so drunk that 
I could not hreak my connection with him, or control his 
mind. He undertook to go home, fell into the snow, and 
came near freezing to death. 1 suffered awfully, ten times 
as mudi as when I die(l.' . . . Reader, we draw the curtain 
over scenes like these, such as are daily occurring in this 
society." 

Ill these cases the whole evil of tlie iiuhilgences 
of course falls upon the iiiediunis; aiul who would 
wish to assume personal relation with such a world, 
and be forced to bear in their own Ixalies the evils 
of the nnhallowed indulgences of unseen spirits, 
against their will i 

Other scenes represented as taking ]»lace in 
the spirit land, are most grotesque and silly and 
would be taken as a bin"les(jue u]>on Spiritualism, 
were thev not }nit forth in all gravity by the friends 
and advocates of that so-called new revelation. 
Thus Judge Edmunds, giving an account of what he 
had seen in the spii-it world, mentions the case of an 
old woman busy chiu'iiing, who promised him, if he 
would call again, a drink of buttermilk ; he speaks 



118 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

of men fighting, of courtezans trying to continue 
their lewd conduct; of a mischievous boy who split 
a dog's tail open, and put a stick in it, just to wit- 
ness its misery; of the owner of the dog, who at- 
tracted by its cries, discovered the cause, and beat 
the boy, who fled, but was pursued and beaten and 
kicked far up the road. See Edmund's "Spiritual- 
ism," Vol. II, pp. 135-144, 181, 182, 186, 189. 
Surely here are the diakka playing their pranks in 
all their glory. 

MISCELLANEOUS TEACHING. 

On the leading points of faith as held by Chris- 
tians generally, quotations have been given to show 
sufficiently what the spirits teach, and the object 
they are trying to effect. But the reader will be 
interested to learn what they teach on some other 
points which incidentally appear in their communi- 
cations. 

Spiritualists object most strenuously to the idea of 
unconsciousness in death, or to the Bible declaration, 
' ' The dead know not anything. ' ' But the spirits 
themselves teach this very thing. Thus Judge Ed- 
munds, Yol. 11, Appendix B, p. 524, quotes the 
confession of a spirit that he was totally unconscious 
for a time, he could not tell how long, and awoke to 
consciousness gradually; and that the state of uncon- 
siousness differs with difl'erent persons, depending 
on circumstances. A. J. Davis admits that Pro- 
fessor Webster was eight days and a half uncon- 
scious. — '•^ Death and the After Life,'''' p2?. 18, 19. 



MTSCEIJ.ANEOUS TEA('nTN(}. 119 

Throug;li Mrs. Conant, medium, in lUtnner of Liijlii^ 
June 3, 1805, we have this iiit'onuatioii : "It is 
said that some spirits require a tliousand years to 
awake to consciousness. Is this true''? — Yes, this 
is true.'' In "Automatic Writing," p. U8, the 
s])irits teach the same tiling to-day. If others deny 
such statements, it only shows that their testimony 
is contradictory and therefore unreliahle. 

Again, the Bihle docti'ine that the incorrigibly 
wicked must cease from conscious cxisk'nce, is de- 
nounced by S])iritualists ; but on this ]toint the 
spirits confess also: — 

" (^wf-y. — Do I lUMlurstuiKl you to say tlial a diakka is one 
who believes in ultirniitc anniiiilalion'.'' 

" .■l/<.v. — Only yt'stiTilay oni' said to a lady mi'ditiin, siuii- 
iiii; himself ' Sweden borp,' tliis: ' Whatsoever is. lias been, 
will bf, (IV may be, tlud I am, and i)i'iva1e liff is hul llu' 
airpreyativf pliantasms of lhiid<inp: throblcts rushiiiL;- in tlu-ir 
risinii' onwai-d to the central heart of eternal deatli."" 
— '• I Hit I, I. a " p. 11. 

'(^. — Does every human beine; continue lilV on higher 
])lanes'.' 

•'.1. — Shall not all who are abortions die'.' 

" f/ — Do yon mean that some born on tliis jilanr may 
spiritually die from lack of force to persist? 

" .•!. — Yi'S — both wonuMi and men are born into the 
di\ ini' humanity who must necessarily perish, because tiiey 
have not sutlicient Soul strenstli tt> persist." — '• Autontiitir 
WritiiKj" pp. 101. 10..'. 

'^riiere is, it seems, a purgatory in the sj)irit 
world. In answer to a (juestion, a spirit replied : — 

"There is a sphere in spirit lifi- allotted to those who 
h'avf the earthly plane in spiritual ii^niorance, which is not 
iiliiLsiiKi to dwell upon, yet which is absolutely necessary to 
sjiiritual soul growth. — /</., ji. 90. 



120 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

Spiritualism is claimed to settle the question of 
immortality ; but the spirits confess themselves 
ignorant of it : — 

" Ques. — On your plane do you arrive at certaint}- in 
regard to immortality? 

'■'■ Ans. — We here are as ignorant as you arc as to the ulti- 
mate of existenc(\ Immortality is still an undetevhiined isnue. 
One life at a time seems as pertinent with us as with you." — 
Id., p. 103. 

The spirits' heaven, it seems, is not so desirable 
a place that it prevents their being homesick. 

" Ques. — Why are you homesick? 

"J.«s.— Have not found out the real reason; things are 
so different fromiormer ideas." — Id., p. 111. 

Spirits are not allowed to tell too much about 
their condition, as the following question and answer 
show : — 

" Ques. — Can't you tell us what makes it pleasanter, — 
describe so we can understand ? 

"^4^/.S'. — You '11 find out as I did — 'gainst the rules here to 
tell. . . . Just be patient — it's all easy enough when you 
learn how. 1 was puzzled, but it all seems straight enough 
now." — Id., p. 115. 

They teach the pre-existence of souls, and the 
old pagan doctrines of the reincarnation of souls, 
and the final absorption of all into Nirvana. A 
spirit having answered that all had been asserted in 
some other form, cpiestions and answers followed 
from which we quote : — - 

" Q. — Is that statement an intimation of llie truth of 
reincarnation? 

"^.— Souls of all who have preceded yt)u are centered 
in you in spite of your childish protests. Asli not of those 



SPIRITS CANNOT ]{K IDENTIFIED. 121 

jtri'decossors : for they y»'t live in you, and you in tlicm. . , . 
l^onjr Hfio you and 1 went over tlu' ffround und( r eminent 
nanus. . . . AVcre not we toiretlier wiu-ii Socrates and 
Aspasia talked?" — hi., pp. 1'>1, J')2. 

" Q. — Can you tell us, at least, whether spirit, as a 
whole, or in its individual atoms, exists eternally? 

"A. — Yes; spirit as a whole is eternal — exists — did 
exist — 1)y force of Powers you cannot uiitlcrstand. liut you 
as individual, self-conscious, atomistic particles of spirit 
wholeness, are not eternal, and mutst return to the Primal 
Source." — /</., -J), l.i.i. 

SPIRITS CANNOT BE IDENTIFIED. 

llaviiiu' now siifficii'iitlv exuiiiiut'd the teacliiiiif of 
tlio .spifits, :i tinal question arist's in regard to them, 
whetlier it is ]>ossil)lo^ to identify them, and deter- 
mine with any al)S(»hito certainty whether they are 
the sjtirits of the paiticiilar indi\ iduals tliey chum to 
he, or even sjtirits of the dead at all, or not. It 
should he distinctly home in mind, always, that evil 
angels whose existence lias heen ])ro\ed from the 
Bihle, whose natm-e and delight is to deceive, can 
walk the earth unseen, imitate and personate any in- 
dixidual, and reveal their characteristics of thought, 
writing, acts, f(»rm, and features, and make so perfect 
a count 'i-feit as to defy detection. How, then, c.nn 
it be told what spirit it is, even though it shows the 
face and features of some well-known friend i On 
this topic, as on })receding questions, ISjMi'itualists 
themsehcs may ]iroduce the evidence, President 
jMahaii (*' Discussion with Titi'any and Khen,"' ]». 13) 
remarks : -- 

"Certain experiments have been made, in order to de- 
termine wlieilier spirits are present. Individuals .!,'o in as 



122 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

inquirers, and get definite answers — in tlie first place, from 
departed spirits of persons yd lirina; in tlie second place, from 
departed spirits of persons who nerer existed here or anywhere 
else; in the third i:)lace, from the departed spirits of brute 
beasts." 

When it is considered, as already notod, that 
spirits do their work through mosnieric power, it is 
easy to understand how the medium is made to be- 
lieve that such and such a spirit is communicating 
when it is not so at all. This question of identity 
came up in the very early stages of Spiritualism, and 
is no nearer settled, on their own confession, now 
than then. A Mr. Hobai-t, in ISSd, who claimed to 
be the first Spiritualist iu Michigan, made the fol- 
lowing admission : — 

" Tli(^ spirit sometimes assumes the name of an individual 
belonging to tlie same church, to induce them to hear. This 
is necessary with some who are so bigoted the}^ would not 
believe unless a name was assumed which the_y respected." 

An article in the Spirit aid Telegraph, of July 11, 
1857, begins as follows : — 

"The question is continually being asked, especially b}' 
novitiates in spiritual inveijtigations. How shall we know 
that the spirits who communicate with us are really tlie on.'s 
whom they purport to be ? . . . In giving the results of our 
own experience and observation upon this subject, we would 
premise that spirits unquestionably can, and often do, per- 
sonate other spirits, and tluit, too, often with such perfec- 
tion as, for the time being, to defy every effort to detect 
the deception. ... If direct tests are demanded at all, we 
would recommend tliat they be aslced for the purpose of 
proving that the manifesting influence is that of a spirit, 
rather than to prove -^'Ivdil jjurticular spirit is the agent of its 
production." 



sriKii's cANNor i;k idkniiukd. I'A') 

This is an cntiri' bc^<!;iiig of the wliole iiuitter in 
question; for it is not denied tliat it is ff s})irit; \vj 
want to know wiiat jy//'f/'ri//<//- spirit it is; but for 
that "we must not ask: for it eannot be ascertained. 
Tlie same ai-ticle states that other and lower spirits 
often crowd in and take the ])lace of the spirit coni- 
municMtini;-, without the knowledge of the medium. 
We might also quote " Si)iritualism as It Is," p. 11, 
that '^Liot one per cent, of the manifestations have 
had a liigher origin than the first and second spheres, 
which are filled \vith low, ignorant, deceptive, mis- 
chievous, selfish, egotistical spirits;" and "Deal- 
ings with the Deul," p. 2-25, that "the fact is, good 
spirits do not a]>]>c'arone tenth as often as imagined." 

Jan. T, ISSS, the following ajtpeui'ed in the B in- 
ner uf Lujlii : — 

" O/^v. — What is till' cuusc of our r('Ct'iviii<r, incoiisist iit, 
ami u;il nil lifiil cominuiiifaUoiis? Docs %\\\i blamt', it any 
llirrc is, rrst wilh us or tlii; control liii;ar inlcllif^t'iico? 

'•.I. /.v. — Thi-re are spirits wlio dclii^lit in imposiuj^ upon 
mortals; tlu'y realize their power outside of material thinj^s. 
and that those who seek knowledjre from Ihem cannot see i.or 
(/it Jiold ofthfin; therefore to an extent thry cxeroisi' a certain 
power over those mortals who approach; and if the mortals 
are tlicmsclvcs tricky by nature, insincere, ready to take ad- 
vantai^'e of others, whether it 1)e at the time of sitting,' or in 
their daily life, rest assured hhey may he imposed upon hy 
s|»irits from theotlu'r side wlio oci'upy a like iilane of exist- 
ence wilh themseh'es." 

^1 '(Hums tht'inselves will not trust the spirits, 
accirding t> statemi'iils in:itl;' as late as isitn. 
Mi-^. S. A. Underwood, nudiimi, i:i " Automatic 
Writing," ]». 5;"), says: — 



124 MODEEN SPIRITUALISM. 

"With all my experience in it. I would ncU to-daj' venture 
upon any change, business venture, friendship, or line of con- 
duct, advised from this source, unless my own common ma- 
terial sense endorsed it. Indeed, I would not take as fact any 
of its even reasonable advice without question, because it is 
not reliable as a guide in earthly affairs." 

Spirit communication, then, certainly does not 
amount to much as a heavenly instructor, a celestial 
guide to enlighten the ignorance of men. Whatever 
we know ourselves, we may rely upon; all else is 
uncertain. Again, on p. 56, she says : — 

"Then the assumption of great names by apparently 
common-place minds is a very strange thing. I was horrified 
and annoyed when this occurred under my own hand, because 
that is one of the things which di.sgiisted me with spiritual 
messages before this writing came to me, as I had occasion- 
ally glanced over such messages. When I protested against 
such assumptit)n, I was told that 'Elaine and Guinevere' 
were not real beings, but types. So somewhere in our sphere 
are spirits who embody cleverness in creations of their own 
fancy, and adopt names suited to that fancy." 

Thus the spirits themselve.s confess that the names 
they often assume are not those of r^al heings, but 
typical and fanciful. Nothing more, it would seem, 
is necessary to complete the condemnation of Spiri- 
tualism, so far as its own nature is concerned. When 
in addition to all else, it appears that the spirits can- 
not be identified; that the whole underlying claim 
that the spirits are the spirits of the dead must itself 
be assumed, and that, too, in the face of the number- 
less known falsehoods and deceptions that are con- 
stantly issuing from the unseen realm, — there is 
nothing left for it to stand upon. 



CHAPTER SIX 



ITS PROMISES: HOW FULFILLED. 

IT is fair to call S|iiritualisin tt> account as to tlie 
t'liltilnieiit of the ]»i'oiiiiscs involved in its clial- 
\vu<>^(i to tlio ^v<tl•l(l when it stei>]>e<l n|>oii the stao;e of 
action. No movement ever opened \vith more mag- 
nificent promises. It posed before the world as an 
angel of heavenly light: It claimed to be the second 
coming of Christ. It claimed to have been sent to 
regenerate mankind, and renovate the world. We 
give herewith a few of its spirit-inspired pretensions. 
Its "Declaration of Principles," Article 20, says : — 

"The hearty aiifl iiit<»lli(jen( convictions of these truths 
[tiif ti'achinf,'s of spirits] tend to energize the sonl in ail that 
is fiood and elevatintr, and to restrain from all that is evil and 
impure. . . . to (luicken all pliilanthropic impulses, stimu- 
hitin;,' to enliffhtened and unselfish labors for universal good." 

In behalf of the cause of woman it says : — 

••spiritualism has done more for the advancement of true 
womanhood than the Church or any^of its accessories." — Dr. 
W((f.'<'iii. ill, Bdiiiur of ]J(jIit, Ajiril lU, 1S.S7. 

Miss A. L. Lull, in the RiVkjio- PJi'ilo^opltkal 
JoxriKil oi i'cxn. 2;5, isstl, said: — 

'•spiritualism is the saviour of luimanity, bi'cause it 
is reaching out toward the criminal, and in its etfort to lift 

[12.3] 



126 MODEEN SPIRITUALISM. 

humanity to a higher plane, it is laying the foundation for 
future generations. . . . Spiritualism comes to cleanse out 
the dregs and wretchedness of humanity." 

Mrs. Cora L. V. Rieliinond, in a mediiimistic dis- 
course reported in the Banner of Lights April 3, 
1886, said : — 

" The Great Reformer of the. world is Spiritualism. . 
When Modern Spiritualism made its appearance, it said in 
so many words, I come to reform the world. . . . Spir- 
itualism came to put the ax at the root of the tree of human 
evil, it came to decide upon the most important and vital 
thing connected with existence; ^. e., Is man only an evanes- 
cent, material, earthly being, or is he immortal? . . . Spir- 
itualism came to reform death, to resolve it into life; came to 
reform fear, to resolve it into trust and knowledge; came to 
reform the darkness which rests upon humanity concerning 
the nature of man's existence." 

In the same paper, April 6, 188 7, was given the 
following prediction of the future of Spiritualism : — 

" Modern Spiritualism will grow, and deepen, and broaden, 
and strengthen, until all false creeds and dogmas shall be 
swept from the earth — when faith shall be buried in knowl- 
edge, when war shall be known no more, when universal 
brotherhood shall i:»revail to bless mankind." 

In "Nineteenth Century Miracles," p. 70, M. 
Jaubert speaks as follows : — 

"AtBrm to your peojJe that man never dies, that his 
immortality is proved, not by books but by material and 
tangible facts, of which every one can convince himself ; th-at 
anon our houses of correction, and our prisons, will disappear; 
suicide will be erased from our mortuary tables; and nobly 
borne, the calamities of earth shall no longer produce mad- 
ness." 



IIS I'KOMISKS : HOW FrLFILLKl). 



127 



J\lrs. Ji. S. Lillie, in a s|htc1i at the Tliirty-ci^litli 

aimivcrfsarv services in llorticiiltiii'al Hall, Boston, 

Mass., and reported in the Iiiininr of Ln/ht^ of 

April, iNS'!, said : — 

••C'hristi;inity ncvtT luid a IN-iitt'Cost to he CDmpart'il with 
moilern Spiritualism. The latter is as far in advance of the 
former, as the electric light is in advance of tin' tallow <lip of 
the past; for it is nineteen centuries ahead of it." 

These are most astounding claims ; and if there 
is any ti-uth in them, Si)iritiialism ought to have 
shown itself as a great u])lifting moral power, pro- 
vided it has been able to get any foothold among the 
peo])le. We therefore inquire what its success has 
been. On this point Professor Keck, at the Thirty- 
ninth Anniversary of Modern Spiritualism, at 
Bridgeport, Conn. [Banner of L/)//if, April *J, 
issT), said : — 

■'ll [Spiritualism] has made converts of more scii-ntitic 
men and profound thinkers than any other sect in the world. 
In thirty-nine years it has grown to ti'n or fifteen millions of 
believers, with thousands of mediums, a literature printed in 
every known language, and converts in evt-ry (juarter of the 
globe." 

With all these facilities and all this success, it 
surely has been able to make good its claims, and 
fuliil its promises, if its nature is such as it assimies, 
and its promises are good for anything ; and its 
course should be nuirked by a great decrease of 
crime, by the promotion of virtue and a general 
improvement in the moral tone of society, wherever 
it has gone. ¥ov nearly fifty years it has now been 
operating in the world; and with all its glowing 



i^2S MODERN SPIKITUALISM. 

professions of wliat it was able to do, and its millions 
of converts, ' ' energized to all that is good and eleva- 
ting, ' ' its impress for good should everywhere be seen. 

But what are the facts ? — Just the reverse of 
what has been promised. Free love, which is free 
lust, has followed in its wake ; homes have been 
ruined, families scattered, characters blighted ; while 
insanity and suicide have been the fate, or the last 
resort, of too many of its victims. And outside of 
its own ranks, in the world at large, the fifty years 
since the advent of Spiritualism have been years of 
increase of crime and every evil in a fast growing 
ratio. Liquor drinking, tobacco using, gambling, 
prostitution, defalcations, robberies, bribery, munici- 
pal corruption, divorces, thefts, insanity, suicide, 
and murder, have increased in far more rapid ratio 
than the population itself. 

The reader will remember the testimony of Dr. 
Randolph, p. 105, that five of his friends destroyed 
themselves, and he attempted it for himself, by direct 
spirit influences. The Philadelphia Rerord^ of Feb. 
17, 1894, speaks of the suicide of May Brooklyn in 
San Francisco, Cal. : — 

"The letters and papers left by the dead woman show 
Ijlainly that in her grief over the death of Lovecraft she had 
dabbled in Spiritualism, and had finally reached the conclu- 
sion that her only chance of happiness lay in joining her 
lover in the other world." 

A few figures, as samples, will be given just to 
emphasize the general statements. The following is 
from the Chicago Tribune of Jan, J, 1S'J3 : — 



ITS I'ROMISES : HOW FULFILJLED. 129 

"The number of persons who have committed ■sui'^ide in 
tlif United States during the yeur (18^:2), as gathered from 
telegraph and mail report to the Trihuiif, is 88(50, as rom- 
parcd with '^VM last year (1891), 2640 in 1890, and 2224 in 
1889. The total is much larger than that of any of tiic 
eleven preceding years." 

The Christian Reformer gives the following 
figures of murders, suicides, and embezzlements 
from 1801 to 1898 : — 

"Murders in 189^, 0615; increas.- over 1891 of 709. 
" Suici(his in 189:5, 4486; inereasr over 1S92, 576; 1891, 1105. 
"Funds embezzled in 1898, $19,929,692; increase of 100 
per cent, over 1892." 

It may be asked, What has this to do with Spir- 
itualism '\ — It is a teist of the value of its promises. 
y})iritualism has been posing for fifty years as the 
''World's Keformer," the great energizing, uplift- 
ing force to elevate mankind, the mighty power 
which has come to empty our workliouses and 
prisons, abolish suicides and all crime, the ' ' electric 
light" compared with the "tallow dip" of the 
gospel. And yet with all these claims, with its 
millions of adherents, and the funds and influence at 
its command, it is allowing, year by year, crime to 
increase much faster than the population. Now if 
Spiritualism was the purifying, renovating power 
which it claims to be, such results could not have 
been seen. It is very evident, that, as a power in 
the world in behalf .of righteousness and humanity, 
it has been of no account; and as between the forces 
of good and evil, its weight has been on the side of 
evil instead of good. It is thus that the author of 



ISO MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

Spiritualism, the father of deception, fulfils the 
promises made through that channel to deceive 
mankind. What organized aggressive efforts against 
evil has Spiritualism ever shown? Where are its 
schools and colleges ? Where are its hospitals and 
benevolent institutions? Where are its organized 
charities? and what are its millions of members 
doing to relieve suffering and distress, and turn men 
to better ways of living? The very aspect it pre- 
sents to the world to-day, stamps the brand of Cain 
upon its brow. The Boston Herald of Dec. 17, 
1874, said : — 

"Let Spiritualism produce some idea, utter some word, 
or perform some deed, wliich will have novelty, and yet be of 
manifest value to the human race, and it will make good its 
claims to our serious consideration. But it has not done this. 
For nearly thirty years it has been before the world in its 
present shape, and in all that time, with all its asserted com- 
mand of earthly and suj^er-terrestrial knowledge, it has never 
done an act, or breathed a syllable, or supplied an idea wlaich 
had any value as a contribution to the welfare of the race, or 
to its stock of knowledge. Its messages from learned men 
who are dead, have been the silliest bosh; its stories about 
life upon the planets are wretched guesses, many of which 
can be proved false by the astronomer; its visions have 
frightened scores of people into madhouses, and made semi- 
lunatics of hundreds of others." 

If this charge was good as late as 1874, it is 
equally so at the present time. And thus are we 
forced to the conclusion that Spiritualism, judged by 
the light of its fair promises, is one of the most 
lamentable of delusions, and most stupendous of 
failures. 



CHAPTER SEVEN 



W 



SPIRITUALISM A SUBJECT OF PROPHECY. 

/E come now to one of tlie most timely aiu] 



important features of this whole subject; for 
God in his word has foretold and forewarned the 
world of the movement here passing under review. 
lie has made known the time when it should appear, 
tlie character it would bear, and the work it is to do. 
lie has also connected this with the great event of 
all-overshadowing importance to this world, of which 
it is a startling sign and sure precursor ; namely, 
the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We 
ask the special attention of the reader to this i)art of 
the subject. 

A woi-d of digression may be allowed as to the 
place which ])rophecy holds in the word of God. 
Prophecy is that feature of the sacred volume which 
constitutes it a lamp to our feet and a light to our 
path. Ps. 119:105; 2 Peter 1:19. It is that 
which enables that word to be a guide to the hosts 
of Israel through the weary journey and the gloomy 
shades of thne, giving to every era its "present 
truth,'' and showing the progress of the slow- 
revolving ages toward the great consummation. It 

[131] 



132 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

is the golden credential which the Bible holds up to 
the world of its genuineness and authenticity. 

Prophecy is peculiar to the Christian Scriptures. 
No other so-called sacred books contain this feature. 
It is not found in the Yedas, Shasters, or Puranas of 
the Hindus, nor the Zend Avestas of the Parsees, 
nor the Kojiki Nohonki, of the Shintos of Japan, 
nor the Law Books of Manu, nor the Koran of the 
Mohammedans, nor the Kan-Ying-Peen or Tao-Te- 
King of the Chinese, nor the Tripitakas of the 
Buddhists. The reason is obvious. Neither the 
minds of men nor of angels, either good or bad, can 
read the future. Divine omniscience alone can see 
the end from the beginning and foretell the great 
events that shall mark the history of the world, and 
affect the interests of the church. It is this that 
stamps the Bible as divine, and lifts it immeasurably 
above all other books. It is indeed passing strange 
that all cannot see this. Instead of being a book 
that grows obsolete and out of date with the passing 
years, like the productions of men, it is the only 
book ever seen upon the earth which is ever abreast 
of the times in every age, and lifts the veil of the 
future before him who honestly and reverently seeks 
its pages for a knowledge of the truth. Those 
who ignore or despise the prophecies, rob the Bible 
of one of the brightest stars in its crown of 
glory. 

To be entitled to claim credit as divine, any 
book or system should be able to show that it can 
correctly foretell the future. The spirits see this. 



SPIRITUALISM A SUIJ.IKCT OF PKOl'HKCY. ]')'."> 

aiul, knowinoj that tliov cannot do it, discountenance 
and discourage all such eti'orts. Here is a little of 
their teaching on the subject : — 

" Qut'.i. — Why are so many prt'dictions madi' throuf^h 
modiums, whicli prove false? 

".I//.V. — Wonderful guesses are sometimes made by darinj^ 
spirits. 

" Q. — Can you tfll us anyth.ing of tlie future? 

'■-I. — JMiaros says you must not asl< (]uestioiis of tlu- 
lutun — spirits who prop/iesy are vof rjood spirits 

'• Q. — Do you mean tliat it is not hi-st for us to know tiit- 
future? 

" .1. — Souls on your plane are undergoing,' discipline, and 
it would cost more than it is worth to foretell the future of 
your state." — " Atiior/Kiti'c Wvitinii," pp. I4I, IJ^i. 

Spiritualists rail at God for prohibiting from Adam 
and Eve, in the garden, the tree of the knowledge 
of good and evil, to keep them in ignorance. AVhat 
will they say to these spirits, who coolly answer that 
" it w^ould cost more than it is worth " to give them 
any knowledge of future events ? This, perhaps, 
they will consider all right because it isn't (iod who 
says it. 

1. Let us then see what God has said of the time 
and work and significance of Spiritualism. Over 
seven hundred years before Christ, the prophet 
Isaiah wrote of our time, as follows: "And when 
they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have 
familiar sjnrits, and unto wizards that peep and that 
mutter, should not a people seek unto their God? 
for the living to the dead? To the law and to the 
testimony; if they speak not according to this word, 
it is because there is no light in them."" 



134 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

Here is certainly a prophecy that a time would 
come when just such a work as Spiritualism is now do- 
ing would be a distinguishing feature of the age. The 
present must be the time referred to; because it has 
never been so in any past age ; and the present meets 
the specifications in every particular. It shows that 
the only safety for any one now is to seek unto his 
God, and make the law and the testimony, the word 
of God, the great standard by which to try all spirits. 
1 John 4:1, And another great event is directly 
connected with this, that is, the second coming of 
Christ; for according to verses 16-18, the disciples 
are then looking for him. 

2. Matt. 24:24: "For there shall arise false 
Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs 
and wonders ; insomuch that, if it were possible, 
they shall deceive the very elect." 

A deception of no ordinary power is here brought 
to view. It really results in the division of Chris- 
tendom; for all but the elect are carried away by it. 
In its own claims. Spiritualism fulfils the " Christs " 
and "prophets " part of the declaration, claiming of 
course to be true, while the Bible says it is "false." 
The signs and wonders are beginning to be seen 
in the many ' ' inexplicable ' ' phenomena attending 
Spiritualism. But many more startling exhibitions, 
as will be presently shown, are yet to appear. We 
charge upon Spiritualism, so far, the fulfilment of 
this prophecy. But mark ! this occurs when the 
Son of man is about to appear, ' ' as the lightning 
Cometh, out of the east, and shineth even unto the 



Sl'IKITUALISM A SUBJECT OF I'UOl'IIKCV. 135 

west"' (verso 27); aud it is one of the prominent 
signs of tluit event. See the prophecy from verse 
23 to verse 35. Mark and Luke also dwell upon the 
same prediction, as gathered from the lips of our 
Lord himself. 

3. Heb. 10-28, 29 : "He that despised Moses' 
law died without mercy under two or three wit- 
nesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose 
ye, shall ho ho thought worthy, who hath trodden 
under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the 
blood of the covenant, wheroM^ith he was sanctified, 
an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the 
Spii'it of grace? " 

It is the bold stand which Spiritualism has taken 
against Christ and the atonement, that makes this 
scri])turo applicable to that work. The apostle is 
speaking of the times when the great " day is ap- 
proaching" (verse 25); when it is but a little while, 
and ho that shall come, will come and will not tarry 
(verso 37), and the inti'oduction of verse 29, in such 
a Connection, becomes a prophecy that such an out- 
break against Christ and his atoning; work would be 
seen when he is about to come again. And the ful- 
filment wo are now beholding in S])iritualism. 

4. Rev. 12:12: " Woe to the inhabiters of the 
earth aud of the sea ! for the devil is come down 
unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth 
that ho liatli but a short time." 

This scripture locates itself. It is when Satan 
knows that ho has but a little time to work, and 
henco it must be in the last davs. At this time he 



136 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

descends upon the world in an avalanche of wrath. 
"Wrath" is a misleading term. The words ^v/i6v /leyav 
signify the strongest and most intense emotion of the 
mind. If the object is to accomplish some particular 
end, they would indicate the most intense, concen- 
trated, energetic, and persistent efforts to that pur- 
pose, using every means, and bringing to bear every 
influence to reach the result in question. Satan, as 
we have seen, has an object to deceive the human 
family, as far as possible, to their destruction, by 
signs and wonders. In this work, according to the 
prophecy before us, he will go to the extent of his 
power, and show his most potent signs. Bringing 
the supposed forms and features of the dead before 
living witnesses, is bis most successful method at the 
present time. But as this work is, as yet, done 
largely in the dark, it gives more room for jugglery 
and imposition. The time will come, however, when, 
in open light, counterfeit materializations of the dead 
will swarm on earth, and deceive, if it were pos- 
sible, the very elect — i. e., all who cannot meet the 
deception with the potent weapon — "It is written, 
The dead know not anything, neither have they any 
more a portion forever [in the present state of things] 
in anything that is done under the sun. ' ' 

5. Rev. 13 : 13, 14: "And he doeth great won- 
ders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven 
on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth 
them that dwell on the earth by the means of those 
miracles which he had power to do." 

This prophecy relates to some earthly government 
represented by a symbol with two horns like a lamb. 



SPIRITUALISM A SUBJECT OF I'KOPIIECY. 137 

Yersc 11. It is part of a prophecy l)eginning with 
chapter t\vel\e, and ending with verse 5 of chapter 
fourteen. It is n(»t tlie ])lace here to introduce an 
exposition of this prophecy. It is only necessary to 
state that the position taken is that the lamblike 
symbol rei)resents our own government, the United 
States of America.^ And the great wonders that he 
does, apply to the marvelous manifestations of S])iri- 
tualism. It is a significant fact that S})iritualism 
arose in this country, thus fitting itself exactly to the 
prophecy. The climax of the wonders brought to 
view in the text, making "fire come down from 
heaven on the earth in the sight of men," has not 
yet been reached. More is therefore to be devel- 
oped. Yea, this wonder-working power is to go for- 
ward till that which, in the time of Elijah, was 
the test between the false god Baal and the Lord 
Jehovah, is brought to pass, and fire is made to come 
down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 
And the sad feature of this case will be that the mul- 
titudes, not pei-ceiving the change of issue, will take 
the act down here to be a test of truth, as it was in 
the days of Elijah. 

Taken in connection with other portions of the 
book of Revelation, this pro])hecy reveals clearly 
what the agency that works the miracles is. The 
dragon, representing paganism (Rev. 12 : 3, 4); the 
beast, representing the papacy (Rev. 13 : 1-10); aiul 
the lamblike symbol, representing rrotestantism, 

1 For a full argument on this point, fortified by testimony, tlie 
iipplli-ation of wliifh is beyond question, see works treating on the 
Uuilt'd States as a subject of propliecy, for sale by the luternationul 
Tract Society, l^attle Creeli, Micli. 



138 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

or more specifically, Protestant America (Rev. 
13 : 11-17 ), constitute the symbols of this prophecy. 
For convenience, let us designate them as A, B, and (7, 
respectively. O works his miracles in sight of £/ 
B and C'are again brought to view in Rev. 19 : 20, 
and there C \% called "the false prophet." We know 
the false prophet here is the same as C^ because he 
works miracles before B^ the same as C does in chapter 
13 : 14. All together, A^ B, and 6'' are brought to view 
in Rev, 16 : 13, and unclean spirits like frogs are 
said to come out of their mouths; and then verse 14 
tells what they are : " For they are spirits of devils, 
working miracles." This, then, not the spirits of 
dead men, is the agency that works the miracles of 
chapter 13 : 13, 14. We follow the subject so far, 
at this point, merely to identify the agency that 
works the miracles, and shall have more to say upon 
it. But before passing, we would remind the reader 
that here also the subject is connected with the sec- 
ond coming of Christ; for the prophecy of Reve- 
lation 13 ends with the redemption of the church 
which immediately follows. Rev. 14 : 1-5. 

6. 2 Thess. 2 : 9-12 : "Even him, whose coming 
is after the working of Satan, with all power and 
signs and lying wonders, and with all deceiveableness 
of unrighteousness in them that perish ; because they 
received not the love of the truth, that they might 
be saved. And for this cause God shall send them 
strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that 
they all might be damned who believed not the truth, 
but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 



SPIRITUALISM A SUBJECT {>V I'ICOIMIKCV. 189 

Here, again, we luive the great fact brouglit out 
with still more startling emphasis, that there is to be 
a great outbreaking of Satanic power among men, 
just before and up to, the coming of Christ And 
if we already see the preliminary and even far-ad- 
vanced working of this power in Spiritualism, the 
world should stand aghast at the perils of the times 
in which we live. The coming of Christ is brought 
to view in verse S, and verse 9 states that at tiiat 
time Satan will be working with all power. The 
common version is calculated to obscure this passage. 
The words "even him" (verse 9) are wrongly and 
unnecessarily supplied. Literally rendered, the last 
clause of verse 8, and the first of verse 9 would read 
as follows : " Whom the Lord . . . shall destroy 
with the brightness of his [Christ's] coming; of 
whom [Christ] the coming is, after [or at the time 
of] the working of Satan," etc. The word "after " 
is from the Greek Kara (b/f(/), which when referring 
to time, as in this case, does not mean " after or 
according to," but "within the range of, during, in 
the course of, at, about," as in 2 Tim. 4 : 1, where 
it is rendered "at." 

So here is a plain declaration that at the very 
time when Christ comes Satan will be working in 
the hight of his power, by signs and lying wonders 
(wonders to prove a lie) to keep the people under false- 
hood and deception. Verses 10-12 tell who his vic- 
tims are, and why they become such: they are those 
who i^referred the pleasures of sin to the practice of 
righteousness, and so would not receive the truth. 



140 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

nor tlie love of it. In all such cases God's throne is 
clear. He always, as in this case, sets truth first 
before the people, gives them a chance, and calls 
upon them to embrace it, and be saved. But when 
men, as free moral agents, whom God will not force 
into his kingdom, refuse to receive the truth, shut 
their eyes, close their ears, and steel their hearts 
against it, and find their pleasure in unrighteousness, 
in going in just the opposite direction; — what can 
God do for them ? We leave the skeptic himself to 
answer. For more years than Spiritualism, in its 
present phase, has been before the world, several 
religious bodies have made a specialty of the great 
Bible truth concerning the state of the dead, and 
life only in Christ, which effectually shields all those 
who receive it against the rapping delusion. 

7. Rev. 18 : 2: "And he cried mightily with a 
strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is 
fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and 
the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every 
unclean and hateful bird." 

Among the many predictions given in the word 
of God touching the last days, is one which fore- 
tokens a wide-spread and lamentable declension in 
the religious world. The phrase which embodies it, 
is the one just quoted, "Babylon is fallen." The 
term " Babylon " is not intended nor used as a term 
of reproach, but rather as a descriptive word setting 
forth the very undesirable condition of ' ' mixture ' ' 
and "confusion" in the religious world. It is cer- 
tainly not the Lord's will, who prayed that all hi§ 



SPIRITUALISM A SUBJECT OF PROPHECY. 141 

people sliould be one, that scores or hundreds of 
divisions and sects should exist within his church. 
That is owing, exclaims the Catholic, to the Prot- 
estant rule of private judgment. It is not. It is 
owing to that Pandora's box of mystical interpreta- 
tion placed in the church by old Origen, that prince 
of mischief-makers. By this method, which has 
no method and no standard, the interpretations of 
God's word will ever be as various and numerous 
as the whims and fancies that may find a place in 
the minds of men. 

Put all this confusion must be remedied in tiiat 
church which will be ready for the second advent; 
for no people will be prepared for translation but 
such as worship the Lord in both sj^irit and truth . 
To bring the Church to this point, a call has been 
sent to Christendom in the special truths for this 
time. Most turn away, but some arc taking the 
stand to which these circumstances summon them. 
The process is simple. It is but to read and obey 
God's word in the light of what is called the literal 
rule of interpretation. No other rule would ever 
have been thought of, if the Devil had let the 
minds of men alone. By this rule the true Sabbath 
would always have been maintained, a perfect safe- 
guard against idolatry in the earth; the law would 
liavc held its place as a perfect, immutable, and 
eternal rule of conduct, a safeguard against the 
antinomianism of all ages and the Spiritualism of 
to-day, the view that the dead remain unconscious in 
the grave till the resurrection, would always have 



142 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

been held, and then there could have been no pur- 
gatory, no masses for the dead, no Mariolatry, no 
saint worship — in short, no Roman Catholicism, and 
no Universalism, nor Spiritualism; the true nature of 
the coming and kingdom of Christ would not have 
been lost sight of, and the peace and safety fable of 
a temporal millennium never could have existed. 

To say nothing of other errors that would be cor- 
rected, suppose all Christendom stood together on 
these four simple truths, how much division could 
there have been in the Christian world ? A second 
denomination could not have existed. And what 
would have been the condition of things? — As 
different from the present condition as one can well 
imagine — no paganism, no Roman Catholicism, no 
Protestantism, no multiplied sects, no Spiritualism, 
— but Christianity, broad, united, free, and glorious. 
Some are taking their stand on these truths, and 
so will be shielded from the delusions of these last 
days, for which the way, by ages of superstition and 
error, has been so artfully prepared. Every one 
must stand upon them who is governed by the literal 
rule of interpretation; for they are read in so many 
words out of the sacred volume itself. But the 
churches generally reject them, often with bitterness, 
scorn, and contempt, and some even with persecu- 
tion. And this is why Babylon has fallen. 

That organization, called in Rev. 17:5: "Mys- 
tery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and 
Abominations of the Earth," has been very gener- 
ally applied by Protestants to the Roman Catholic 



BPIKrn'AI.ISM A i^L'HJECT OF I'UOl'HEOY. 148 

Chnrcli; l)iit if tluit cliurch is tlie motlicr, who are 
the (hiiiiihtiTs ^ Tliis question has been asked for 
many years. Alexander Campbell said : — 

"The worshiping establishments now in opL-rution 
tiiroujihout (Jhristentlom, incased and cemented by tlicir 
voluminous confessions of faith, and their ecclesiastical con- 
stitutions, are not churches of Jesus Christ, but the lefi-iti- 
niate daughters of that mother of harlots — the Church of 
Rome." 

Lorenzo Dow said : — 

"We read not only of Babylon, but of the whore of 
P.abylon, styled the mother of harlots, which is supposed to 
mean the Romish church. If she be a mother, who are her 
daughters? It must be the corrupt national established 
churches that came out of her." 

The great sin charged against Babylon, is unlaw- 
ful connection with the kings of the earth. The 
church should be entirely free from the state. But 
now the churches of America, which liave for long 
years borne so noble a part, are clamoring for a 
union with the state, calling for a recognition of 
God^s name in the Constitution, and God's law in 
the courts, and that the government be run on 
Christian lines. Old, antiquated laws which they 
find u]>on the statute books of various States, they 
are beginning to use to persecute those who differ in 
belief with them; and they seek for the enactment 
of more stringent Sunday laws for the same purpose. 
And when they shall succeed in getting full control 
of the state, they will have severed the last link 
that has held them to their high estate, show 
themselves true members of the Babylonian family. 



144 Modern spiritualism. 

and sink in spirit and practice to the level of the 
elder Kome. 

Rev. 14 : 8 was fulfilled in 1844.* Since then 
the churches have been going down in spirituality 
and godliness, catering more and more to the world, 
indulging in carnal amusements, festivals, wife auc- 
tions, and kissing bees, to the very border line of 
decency, but especially filling up with the influences 
mentioned in Rev. 18 : 2, till the leaven of Spiritu- 
alism is fast penetrating the whole mass. Yet there 
are a multitude of God's people connected with these 
churches, who deplore the situation, and for whom 
a crisis is approaching. The cry is again to be 
raised, ' ' Babylon is fallen, come out of her my 
people." We verily believe the time has come 
when that call should be made and heeded; for a 
little further progress in the evil path upon which 
we have entered, will surely provoke the just judg- 
ments of heaven. Yerses 4, 5. 

8. 2 Tim. 3:8: ''Now as Jannes and Jambres 
withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth : 
men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the 
faith." 

The first five verses of this chapter portray a -dark 
list of eighteen sins which will characterize professed 
Christians in the last days; for those who bear the 
characters described, have a form of godliness^ but 
deny the power thereof. The three following verses 
plainly describe certain members of the spiritualistic 



1 See works on the Three Messages of Revelation 14, for sale by 
he International Tract Society, Battle Creek, Mich. 



Sl'IKI'll AI.ISM A ^^L"H.IK(T OK I'l:oj'IIK( V. 145 

f riiteriiity ; and tliey nrv i^aid to he of tlie saiiic soi't. 
This prophecy therefore becoiiicH parallel to that 
which has just been examined. The fall of Babylon 
prepares the popular churches for 8])iritualisin. Here 
the practice of these sins in the churches, makes 
them of the same sort with Spiritualists, so that they 
fraternize well together. Jannes and Janibres with- 
stood Moses by the wonders they were able to 
perform; so these will resist the truth through the 
wonders of Spiritualism. And this is in the last 
days where we now are. So Babylon's fall just 
precedes the coming of Christ. 

9. Rev. 10 : 14 : " For they are the spirits of 
devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the 
kings of the earth and of the whole world, to 
gather them to the battle of that great day of 
God Almighty." 

The work of the spirits reaches its climax in the 
scene here brought to view. Their last mission is 
to go to the kings of the earth to gather them to 
the battle of the great day of God Almighty. In 
this conflict, so far as this earth is concerned, the 
great controversy between Christ and Satan closes 
in the triumph of Him who rides forth on a white 
horse at the head of the white-horsed armies of 
heaven. The beast and false prophet are hm-led 
into a lake of fire, and the remnant, the kings of 
the earth and their armies, are slain by the sword 
of him \ipon whose vesture is inscribed the all- 
conquering title, ''King of kings and Lord of 
lords." Rev. 1<J: 11-21. 
lu 



146 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

But before these spirits can thus influence the 
kings of the earth, they must make their way to 
them and bring them under their control. They 
have already shown great facility in this work, giv- 
ing promise of what they will be able to do in the 
near future. A work by Hudson Tuttle, ' ' What Is 
Spiritualism? "p. 6, names the following among the 
late and living crowned heads, nobility, etc., who 
have been supporters of Spiritualism : — 

" Emperor Alexander, of Russia; Louis Napoleon, of 
France; Queen Victoria, of England; Prince and Princess 
Metternich; Prince Wittgenstein, Lieutenant Aid-de-Camp 
to the Emperor of Russia; Hon. Alexander Axahof, Russian 
Imperial Councilor, St. Petersburg, Russia; Baron Gulden- 
stuble, of Paris; Baron Von Schick, of Austria; Baron Von 
Dirkinck, of Holmfleld, Holstein; Le Compte de Bullet, of 
Paris ; Duke of Leuchtenberg, of Germany. Of England 
there are Lord Lyndhurst, Lord Lindsay, Lord Adare, Lord 
Dunraven, Sir W. Trevilj^an, Countess Carthness, Sir T. Will- 
shire, Lady Cowper, Sir Charles Napier, Sir Charles Isham, 
Bart., Colonel E. B. Wilbraham of the English army," etc. 

The late Alexander III, of Russia, and the Queen 
of Spain are also reckoned among the number. 
Thus, so far as the agency of the spirits is con- 
cerned, there is nothing in the way of the speedy 
fulfilment of Rev, If) : 14. 

CONCLUSION. 

The reader now has before him, in brief, the main 
outlines of this momentous subject. 

1. Spiritualism, so far as its phenomena are con- 
cerned, is not humbug and trickery, but a real mani- 
festation of power and intelligence. 



CONCLUSION. , 147 

2. But tlio nmrvels and wonders are not per- 
formed l)y the spirits of the dead. 

3. Evil spirits step in and counterfeit what are 
supposed to be tlie spirits of tlie dead, in which 
men have been taught to believe, simulating points 
of identity to any minute particular that may be 
required. 

4. Besides starting on this false assumption, all 
tlieir teaching shows that they are agents of evil, 
not of good, and their work is to degrade, not 
elevate. 

i). The woi'ld bv long resistance of the truth, has 
prepared the way for this deception, which the spirit 
that worketh in the children of disobedience is not 
slow to improve. 

<>. Even the churches of Christ, bv rejection of 
the truth, are preparing themselves for the same 
snai'e. 

7. The Scriptures have plainly ]»ointed out this 
great outbreak of tlu^ working of Satan, and invari- 
ably connected it with the last days and the second 
coming of Christ. 

JS. Spiritualism is thus a subject of prophecy, 
and an infallible sign and precursor of the soon- 
coming end. 

\K Thji great day of the Lord is near and hasteth 
greatly; and 'all things now call upon all men to 
prepare for its eternal decisions. 

Is this the lesson ? Who will heed it and thus 
esca|>e the delusions and peri^.s ( 1' ihese last days, 
and be finally saved in the kingdom of heaven? 



INDEX OF AUTHORS REFERRED TO. 



Paoe. 

Alexander, Emperor 14(i 

Axahof, Hon. Alexander 14(5 

Adare. Lord 14(5 

Alexander III 14fi 

IJellachini, Mr 14 

Barrett. Dr. W. V 15 

Hriorht, John 30 

Buddha HG, 87, 88 

Brittan, Professor Ill 

Brooklyn, May 128 

Channing, l)r 4 

Cook, .Io.seph 12 

Crookes, Professor 17 

Crookes, Wm., F. R. S. . . 29 
Clarke, Dr. Adam. .iO. 50. J) 1,92 

Oarev, Alice 78 

Confucius 8(5, 88 

Conant, Mrs !»0, 11!) 

Curry, Dr 56, 92 

Claflin, Mr 109 

Cartt'r, .Iudo:e 11.'? 

Campbell, Alexander.... 143 

Carthness, Counte.ss 146 

Cowper, Lady 146 

Dixon, Hepworth 28 

Davis, A., J 

29,97. 100, 105, 112, 114, 118 

Davenport, Messrs 29 

Dow, Lorenzo 143 

Dunraven, Lord 146 

De Bullet. Le Comtr I 16 

Eplinton. Air 13 

Kdmunds. .Indjr.' 28. II ;, 118 

Fox. Jolm D 18 

Fox. Mrs 18. 19.20. 21 

Fox, Margaret. ... 18, 20, 22 



I'.UiK. 

Fox, Kate 18, 19, 20 

Fox, David 18 

Fox, Mary 21 

Fox. Catiiarint' 22 

Franklin. Benjamin 85 

Geary, Mr 13 

(ilanvil. Mr 20 

(iridley. Dr 114, 115 

Guldenstuble, Baron .... 146 

Hazard, Thos. R 11 

Harrison. W. H.. F. R. S. 29 

Home, Mr 29 

Hendricks, Mrs 31 

Hatch, Mrs. C. L. V., 83, 106 

Hare, Dr.... 84.85,89,92, 99 

Harris, "Rev." T. L 94 

Hall, Hon. J. ii KH 

Hatch, Dr 106 

Hudson,T.J.,17,57,74.109, 11! 

Hull, Moses 109 

Hobart, Mr 122 

Isham. Sir Charles 146 

.lamieson, W. F 109, 113 

.Taubert. M 126 

Keller, Harvy 13 

Krishna 87 

Keck, Professor. ... . 127 

Lillir, .l.T 21 

Loveliind. ,1. S 97 

Lull. .Miss A. L 125 

Lillie. Mrs. R. S 127 

Leuchtenberg, Duke.... 14(5 

Lyndhurst, Lord 146 

Lindsay, I^ord 146 

[149] 



150 



INDEX OF AUTHORS. 



Mompesson, Mr 20 

Milton, John 40 

Mohammed 87, 88 

Massey, Gerald 114 

Mahan, Pres 121 

Metternich, Prince 146 

Metternich, Princess. .. . 146 

Norton, Deacon John. ... 89 

Napoleon, Louis 146 

Napier, Sir Charles ...... 146 

Owen, Robert Dale 18, 19 

Olshausen, Dr 56 

Orton, Mr 84 

Origan 141 

Putnam, Allen 75 

Paine, Thomas ,.. 85, 87 

Potter, Dr. AVilliam 15... 107 

Parker, Theodore 114 

Queen of Spain , . 146 

Redfield, Mrs 21 

Randolph, Dr. B. P 

104, 105, 112, 128 

Richmond,Mrs.CoraL.V. 126 

Slade, Mr 14 

Savage, M. J., 15,22.24.25. 32 

Stead, W. T.... 31 

Stanford. Leland 31 



Tiffany. Joel 90 

Tuttle, Hudson, 113, 116, 146 
Trevilyan, Sir W 146 

Underhill, Leah Fox. ... 21 
Underwood. Mrs. S. A. . . 
26, 80, 123 

Vinet. Dr 5 

Victoria, Queen 146 

Von Schick, Baron 146 

Von Dirkinck, Baron. .. . 146 

Wesley, Mr 20 

Wood, Rev. J. G 26 

Wallace,F.R.S., Alfred R. 

29, 30 

Weisse, Dr 84 

Washington. George.. 85, 114 

Wilson. R. P 88 

Whitney. J. F 105 

Woodhull. Mrs 109 

Wilson, James Victor, 112, 113 

Webster, Professor 118 

Watson, Dr 125 

Wittgenstein, Prince.... 146 

Willshire, Sir T 146 

Wilbraham, Col. E. B. . . 146 

ZoUner, Professor 12, 13 

Zoroaster 68, 88 



INDEX OF BOOKS, PAPERS, ETC., 
QUOTED. 



Facje. 

Automatic or Spirit 

Writing 

15, 2(1 80, 86. 98, HI, 
ll!t, 120, 121, 123, 124. i:53 

Arena, The IT) 

Astouiuling Facts from 

the Spirit World 114 

Banner of Light 

21,78, 70, 

83, 84, 86, 89. 90. 97. 
101,119,123,125, 126, 127 

Christittnat H7>7-A-,Tho.29. 'M 
Chronide, San Francisco 29 

Century Dictionary 35 

Christian Reformer, The 129 

Declaration of Principles 
of the Spiritualists 
102, 125 

Dealin"S witli the- Dead 

104, 112. 123 

Death and the After Life IIS 

Discussion witli Tilfany 

Mini lvh<'ii 1"-M 

Forum, The 16. 11 

Footfalls on th.- lioun- 
darv of Another 

World 18 

Fortnightly Review 29. 30 

Home Circle l-^ 

Healing of the Nations 

96. 97. 99. 102 

IleraUI. Boston i:!tl 



Paoe. 

Kojiki Nohonki 132 

Koran 1^2 

Kan-Ying-Peen 132 

Law of Phvsic Phenom- 
ena.... 17, 57, 74, 109, 111 
Life in Two Spheres. 113, 116 
Tiaw liooks of Mann 132 

Mesmerism, Spiritualism, 
Witchcraft, and Mir- 
acles 75 

North American, Phila- 
delphia 11 

Nineteenth Cent ury 

Miracles 13. 126 

Nature of Divine Reve- 
lation ft? 

Paradi.se Lost 40 

Piilhlindir. New York 105 

Purana 1^2 

Q Id irt I rlij, Journal of Science 29 
]{(/i(/i<i- Fhiloxophical Jour- 

' luil 14. 28, 80, 125 

Report of the 37th Anni- 
versary of Modern 

Spiritualism 21 

Rerieir of Herieirn 31 

Record, 'Philadelphia. . . . 128 

Spiritual Clarion 14 

Spiritual Telef/raph, 83.96, 122 
Siiiritual Science Demon- 
strated 89. 92 

[151] 



152 INDEX OF BOOKS, l^APERS, ETC., QUOTED, 



Spiritualism as It Is, 

107, 108, 123 

Spiritualism 118 

Shaster 132 

The Border Land 31 

Treatise on Christian 

Doctrine 40 

Truth Seeker 83 

Telegraphic Answer to 

Mahan Ill 



The Diakka and their 

Earthly Victims, 112, 113 

Tribune, Chicago 128, 129 

Tao-Te-King 132 

Tripitaka. 132 

Veda....: , 132 

World, New York 30 

What Is Spiritualism 14G 

Zend Avesta 132 



INDEX OF TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE 

ILLUSTRATED OR EXPLAINED. 



I'AOE. 
OKNESIS. 

1:1-.") 93 



1 

2 
2 
3 


28 






(i8 


>> 






40 


7 






45 


4 






30 


4 

35 


10 






5'> 


21. 22 

18 






45 
01 


10 

Ifi 
27 

13 
18 

Ch 

4 
17 

10 
21 


31 


i.Evnicrs. 


30 


53 


00 


NT'MBEHS. 


48, 


50 


10 




50 


DK.rTEKONOMY. 

1-3.5 

0-12 




77 
3() 


an. 28 


1 s.\.\nEi,. 


5-' 


53 


1 


1 KIXOS. 




73 


21, 22 

35 






01 


2 KINGS. 




70 


2. (). 
21.... 


11 

.ion. 




30 
0-^ 


14 


21.... 






0:! 


10 


2.5-27. 
14. 15 






0"! 


34 






15 



13 




I'SALMS. 




(v^ 


3 






(i2 



Tagf.. 



17:15 


. .. o:> 


115: 17 


. . . ()3 


110:105 


. . . 131 


140:3, 4 


. . . 02 


ECCI.KSIASTES. 

3: 10. 21 


. . . 45 


8:11 


... 101 


0:5, 0, 10 

12:7 


. . . 43 
44, 45 


ISAIAH. 

5:20 


. .. 101 


8: 10 


. .. 74 


8:19, 20 

14:12-14 


75, 1,33 
. .. 07 


26 : 10 


93 


38:1, 5. 18. 10 

01 : 1 


. . . 03 

. . . .50 


EZEKIKI,. 

18:20 


. . . 07 


28 : 


. . . 07 


28:2, 12-15. 


08 


37 : 1 2 . . . 


93 


1>AXIET,. 

11-2 


93 


IIOSEA. 

1 :j . 1 4 


. . 93 


IIARAKKIK. 

2:11 


. . . 52 


MATTHKAV. 

10:28 .50. 

10 -30 


51, 52 
51 


15 13 


17:3., 50 



[153] 



154 



INDEX OF TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE. 



22 
94 


23-28, 
23-35 . 


32 


.., 61 
... 135 


94 


24 




83, 134 


94 


30, 31. 
32, 33. 

18 




. .. 58 


25 




... 97 


27 




... 85 


28 


3, 4. . . 




... 72 


10 
14 
16 
19 
23 

3 
3 


18.... 


LUKE. 


. .. 71 


14.... 




... 64 






... 57 


35 




... 64 


39-43. 
6 


JOHN. 


58, 59 
... 46 


19-21 




.. 109 


6 : 39. 40 




... 64 


6 
8 
11 
11 
14 
19 
20 

7 
16 
17 
26 

2 

4 
6 
6 

11 
15 
15 
15 

15 

4 

5 

12 


40.... 




... 51 


44... 




... 67 


11 




... 62 


25 




... 55 


30.... 
31-33. 
17 . 




... 68 
... 60 




... 59 


60.... 


ACTS. 


... 62 


16-18. 
31 




... 36 




64 


23 




. 57 


15 


ROM.\NS. 


. . 95 


17 




... 61 


16 




... 68 


23 ... 




... 97 


1 CORINTHIANS. 

30 


62 






... 92 


18.... 




... 64 


51 . . . 




. . . 62 


51-54. 

2( 
4 




... 61 


:;ORINTHIANS 


... 68 


2 




... 61 


2-4... 




. . . 59 



GALATIANS. 

5 : 19-21 36 

EPHESIANS. 

2:2 68 

6:11 72 

6:12 73 

PIIILIPPIANS. 

3:11 61 

1:23 61 

1 THESSALONIANS. 

4:14 62 

4:15-17 58, 61 

5:23 48 

2 THESSALONIANS. 

2 : 8, 9 139 

2:9-12 138 

1 TIMOTHY. 

1:17 ■. 42 

3:6 67 

4:1 73, 88 

6:16 42 

2 TIMOTHY. 

3:8 144 

4:1,8 64 

4:1, 10-12 139 

HEBREWS. 

2:14 55 

10:25-29 135 

11 : 15, 16 61 

11:40 48 

12:9, 23 .50 

12 : 23 47, 50 

.TAMES. 

4:6-8 72 

1 PETER. 

1:11 49 

3:19 48 

3 : 20 49 

5 : 8, 9 73 



INT>R\' OK TKXTS (>K SCRII'Tl'RE. 



2 PETER. 

1 : 16-18 .-,(•, 

1:19 131 

2:4 ()(). 72 

3 : 7, 13 72 

1 JOHN. 

2:22 87 

2:23 S.-! 

4:1,16-18 i:U 

4:3 88 

5:18 72 

JUPE. 

Verse4 88 

" 6 <;<) 

'* 9 f).-) 

•RE^^:LATTON. 

3:7 5!) 

5:13 72 



<■.:;» 11 52 

12::!. 1 i:{7 

12:7 71 

12:12 l'};-, 

13:1-10 137 

13:11, 13, 14 ]3(i 

13:11-17 138 

11:1-5 138 

11:8 144 

!(t:13, 14 75. 138 

10:14 145, 14() 

17:5 142 

18:2 140 

18:2, 4. 5 144 

19:11-21 145 

19:20 138 

20:4-0 51 

20:14, 15 72 

21 :8 30, 93 

22 : 1 . 2 59 

22: 15 !>3 



STANIIAIII) KELltlOUS PUBLICATIONS. 



Any book in this list will be sent post-paid 
to any address. 



PROPHETIC LIGHTS. This work treats of the historical prophecies 
of the Bible; it also gives the predictions relating to the first 
advent of Christ. The illustrations are beautiful and appro- 
priate. It is printed on an extra quality of paper, and contains 
nearly 200 pages. Bound in fine English cloth, with symbolical 
side stamp in brown and gold $1.00 

HISTORY OF THE SABJATH and First Day of the Week. This volume 
is a mine of information on the Sabbath question. The subject 
is treated from a Biblical and historical standpoint. Every 
passage in the Bible which has any bearing on the question 
is examined at length. A copious index enables the reader 
readily to find any text quoted, or the statement of any histo- 
rian. This important work contains 54S pages. In pamphlet 
form ( three parts) , per set, 75 cts. In cloth $2.00 

THE GREAT CONTROVERSY between Christ and Satan during the 
present dispensation. A volume of intensely interesting his- 
tory which begins with our Lord's great prophecy on the 
Mount of Olives, and outlines the history of the world down to 
the time when sin and sinners are no more. This remarkable 
work contains over 700 pages, and has 26 full-page illustrations. 
Elegantly printed and bound for $2.25 

STEPS TO CHRIST. This little book presents in a simple and at- 
tractive manner the steps by which the sinner may be made 
complete in Christ. While the book is an excellent guide 
for in<iuirers and young converts, it also contains a wealth 
of counsel and encouragement for those who are laboring 
with the difficulties that beset a growing experience. This ex- 
cellent work has been translated into twelve languages. it>\ 
pages 60 cts. 

THE SAINTS' INHERITANCE. The reader will here find a deeply in- 
teresting pamphlet of 82 pages showing that the future kingdom 
of Christ, with the family of the redeemed, will be in this earth, 
renewed, restored, and regenerated, according to numerous 
scriptures in the Old and New Testaments. Paper covers. 10 cts. 



PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS, or the Great Conflict between Good 
and Evil as illustrated in the Lives of Holy Men of Old. Begin- 
ning with the rebellion in heaven, this volume shows why sin 
was permitted, why Satan was not destroyed, and why man 
was tested. It also traces the conflict between good and evil 
down to the time of King David, and shows God's great love to 
man by his wonderful dealings with " holy men of old." It 
contains over 30 full-page illustrations, and has 760 octavo 
pages $2.25 

HELPS TO BIBLE STUDY. A series of Bible readings, simple and 
easy, designed as an aid to the personal study of the Scriptures, 
and adapted to the use of individuals or families; also a valu- 
able assistant to Bible workers. The book contains about forty 
readings, prepared by practical Bible workers and teachers, 
and covers the most important subjects that pertain to the 
spiritual welfare of all. 125 pages 25 and 50 ClS. 

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. The most complete and comprehensive 
work on this subject that has been published. Starting from 
the period of childhood, it points out the most .successful way 
of preparing the mind for the work of after years. And the 
molding influences of home and associates are dwelt upon in 
the most explicit and practical way. Many perplexing prob- 
lems are here cleared up, and every one who has children to 
deal with should study this book. 256 pages 50 Cts. 

THE ATONEMENT. An examination of God's remedial system in 
the light of nature and revelation. This work is a critical and 
exhaustive treatise on the plan of salvation as revealed in the 
Scriptures, showing its harmony with the principles of justice 
and mercy, its con.sistency with reason, and its final results as 
affecting the destiny of our race. 368 pages $1.00 

THE CHARIOTS OF FIRE AND IRON; or. The Modern Railroad 
System treated in the light of sacred prophecy. This is an in- 
teresting pamphlet of 168 pages from the pen of the well-known 
author and scholar, D. T. Taylor 25 Cts. 

HIS GLORIOUS APPEARING. An exposition of the XXIVth chapter 
of Matthew. This booklet of a hundred pages is an explana- 
tion of the Saviour's great prophecy concerning the gospel 
dispensation and his second coming in glory. 
In paper covers, 20 cts. Boards, 25 cts. Cloth 40 cts. 

FACTS FOR THE TIMES. Containing historical extracts, secular 
and religious, from ancient and modern authors, on the live 
questions of the present time. This is a timely work, and is 
brought down to the year 1893. 340 pages 75 ct». 



FROM EDEN TO EDEN. The reader will here find a captivatinjr 
study of the historical portions of the Scriptures. The author 
traces the world in its mad career from Eden lost to Kden re- 
stored. " From Eden to Eden " contains 264 pages and several 
full-page illustrations $1.00 

THE MINISTRATION OF ANGELS. This interesting pamphlet treats 
on a subject seldom written upon, yet of great importance to 
the Christian. It considers very fully the origin, history, and 
destiny of Satan, and the ministration of those guardian angels 
who minister to the heirs of salvation. 144 pages. Paper 
covers 20 cts. 

SACRED CHRONOLOGY. A new and revised edition of a little work 
published by the late Sylvester Bliss about forty years ago, giv- 
ing the chronology of the world from creation till the death of 
the apostle John. Also, " The Peopling of the Earth ; or, His- 
torical notes on the Tenth Chapter of Genesis," by A. T. Jones. 
A valuable reference book, which should be in the hands of 
ministers and Bible students $1.00 

HERE AND HEREAFTER. This volume is a thorough canvass of the 
great question of a future existence, and the nature of man in 
the present life. Topically it treats on man's nature and des- 
tiny, the state of the dead, the reward of the righteous, and the 
punishment of the wicked. Ever^- text in the Bible which has 
a bearing on these points is considered, thus giving a very 
comprehensive view of this important subject. 444 pages. $1.00 

PROPHECIES OF JESUS. A work of great importance. Itdwellsat 
length on four of the most important lines of prophecy as fol- 
lows: (1) On the predictions of Christ; (2) The prophecies of 
the apostles; (3) The prophecies of Daniel; and (4) Those given 
in the Apocalypse. The volume contains 566 pages and 34 full- 
page illustrations. In cloth binding $1.75 

In more expensive bindings $2.25 and $3.75 

Issued also in German. 

GOSPEL WORKERS is a very practical volume of 4S0 pages. It out- 
lines the qualifications that should be possessed by ministers 
and all others who would win souls to Christ. It should be in 
the hands of Christian workers generally. This book can be 
read and studied by all classes with edification and profit. $1.00 

CIVIL GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION. This pamphlet shows the re- 
lation that sho\ild exist between Church and State, as deduced 
from the Scriptures and the evidence of past centuries. The 
Appendix contains "The Declaration of Independence" and 
"The Constitution of the X'nited States," 182 i>ages 25 cts. 



ADDRESSES. By Prof. Henry Drummond, with brief sketch of 
the author by Rev. W. J. Dawson, also an excellent portrait 
Contents. — I. Love; The Supreme Gift, the Greatest Thing in 
the World. II. The Perfected Life; the Greatest Need of the 
World. III. Dealing with Doubt. IV. Preparation for Learn- 
ing. V. The Study of the Bible. VI. " First," an Address to 
Boys. " The addresses are famous for their insight into the 
relations of Christianity to the moral life, and their direct ap- 
plications of the principles of Christianity to development of 
life spiritually." — 77?^ Boston Globe 75 cts. 

THE GOSPEL IN CREATION. A finely-illustrated work which sets 
forth clearly and simply the relation between God's work in 
Creation and Redemption. This is an excellent book to fortify 
the minds of those who might be disturbed by the specious 
attacks now made against the Bible. 
In board covers, 25 Cts. Bound in cloth 40 Cts. 

TITHING SYSTEM; or God's Plan for Supporting Laborers in his 
Cause. — A forcible argument, showing the obligation of the 
tithing system in the gospel dispensation, and an application 
ofits principles to the present time. 112 pages ...lOcts. 

CHURCH AND STATE. A timely document upon the origin 0/ 
Church and State union, with the arguments and excuses for 
Sunday laws, laws exempting Church property from taxation, 
laws against blasphemy, religious tests, etc., all well considered. 
By James T. Ringgold, of the Baltimore Bar. 60 pages... 10 cts. 

THE NONESUCH PROFESSOR IN HIS MERIDIAN SPLENDOR; or the 

Singular Actions of Sanctified Christians. — By Rev. William 
Seeker, with an introduction by Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler, D. D. 

" It is a mine of sparkling gems." — Presbyterian Observer. 

" A sheaf of golden grain, ripened by grace, and sweet with 
the flavor of rare simplicity and holv wisdom." — The Observer. 

{N. v.) 

"This is a wonderful book It contains hundreds of 

bright seed thoughts." — J?ev. Theodore L. Cuyler, D. D. 

367 pages, cloth binding $1.00 

For anything in the foregoing list address, 

REVIEW AND HERALD, 

BATTLE CREEK, MICH. 



iKS^FuU catalogues of all the publications issued by this Pub- 
lishing House, in English, French, German. Danish, Swedish, 
Spanish, and other languages, sent free on application with stamp. 
Correspondence solicited. 



